
Qass— 13 > X JLXX.S 

Book i.O ^ O 6> 




E. O 5AMO XD -CTJLBEIIT S COT. 



ROSAMOND: 

OR, A 

NARRATIVE 

OF THE 

CAPTIVITY AND SUFFERINGS 

OP AN 

AMERICAN FEMALE 

UNDER THE POPISH PRIESTS, IN THE ISLAND OP CUBA 

WITH A FULL DISCLOSURE OF 
\ 

THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 
WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 

EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS. 
. . rt-ITH AN ' 

INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, 
BY SAMUEL B. SMITH, 

LATE A PRIEST IN THE CHURCH OP ROME. 
SECOND EDITION. 

Read, blush, and weep ;— the picture stirkes with fear;— 

The mask aside, what Monsters now appear! — 

And must the tale he told?— ring through our land?— 

It must : — for danger ur^es his command. 

We blush to tell ;— -but blushes must be waiv'd, 

Pop'ry expos'd, and our dear country sav'd. 

NEW YORK: 
LEAVITT, LORD, & CO., 

BOSTON : CROCKER & BREWSTER, 

1836. 






Entered, 
According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by 
SAMUEL B. SMITH, 
In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of 

- : : ; r i5fEw:YoEK. e : 



STEREOTYPED BY F. P. RXPLBY, 
KBWYOBX. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

Justice to ourselves, as well as respect for the opinions of those 
editors who have expressed surprise at our publication of Rosamond's 
Narrative, would seem to require a word of comment in issuing 
another edition. 

We doubt not that the invectives of some of our presses have been 
pointed by other influences, than a regard to the public morals. Those 
who have been warmest in their denunciations, and when any good 
is attempted to be done, are ever foremost in the breach to thwart the 
desired purpose^ are daily outraging the public taste by their lives 
and letters. The influence of their papers, filled as they are with over- 
wrought portraitures of crime and criminals — panegyrics of pros- 
titutes — has the effect to caricature virtue, and enamel vice. The 
description Bertram gives ofParolles — "whose nature sickens, but 
to speak a truth," is not inapplicable to them. 

In regard to the mechanical execution of the first edition there 
was room fbr criticism. Some of the engravings were illy executed, 
and a few more illy conceived — we have, however, availed ourselves 
of the first opportunity we have had, of expurgating the work in this 
respect — the first edition having been got up without our consulta- 
tion. 

The Narrative remains, as it came from the pen of the authoress, 
There is an honest difference of opinion (as to the propriety of its pub- 
lication) from suspicions of its authenticity, apprehensions that its dis- 
closures will not accomplish any good, or that the good will be out- 
weighed by evils consequent on exposure of such crimes. 

Vice, of whatever name or influence, to be corrected, must be ex- 
posed — the manner must be decided by the character of the evil, and 
the extent of its influence. 

Here is an institution, enrobed with the externals of Christianity, 
and enjoying the respect of many, charged with the grossest 
abuse. The prejudices of those educated within its pale are too 
strong to suspect their spiritual fathers of any abuse of confidence, 
for they are believed to be divested of the passions of our nature ; 
then how " shall they hear without a preacher 1 and how shall they 
preach except they be sent V* 

What is there in this Narrative that hundreds of American tra- 
vellers do not know to characterize the Spanish and French cler- 
gy ] And has their transportation across the Atlantic washed and 
purified them from the infirmities of human nature ? Is it not pass- 
ing strange that we should receive foreigners and foreign instructers 
with so much confidence ? Suppose some of our own Presbyterian 



clergy, professing more z^al than their brethren, should take upon 
themselves vows of celibacy, and devote their lives to the education 
of females. Let them select some beautiful site on one of our rivers ; 
erect spacious accommodations, and overshadow them with all the 
trees of the forest, and enclose them with walls impassable by men, 
and inscrutable to human ken. Let nature and art be taxed to contri- 
bute of their influence to array these premises in the bloom of an 
eternal spring. Let it be intersected by gravelled walks — emplant- 
ed by all varieties of shrubbery — enamelled with flowers of every odor 
and color — provided with arbors, summer houses, and retreat* — cooled 
by bubbling fountains, and enlivened with singing birds of every note. 
Now would the same inducements which preists offer, for pa- 
rents to avail themselves of these institutions for the education 
of their daughters, be deemed satisfactory if presented by some of 
our home-bred clergy 1 Would professions of celibacy from them be 
deemed conclusive proof of the piety of 'their hearts and purity of their 
lives ? Would the requirement on the part of the Misses of a change of 
dress, assumption of another name, and vow of entire seclusion from 
the world and friends — be considered protection enough for the inno- 
cence of the pupils, or sufficient restraint on the passions of their 
teachers "? No ! common sense declares such a disguise would only 
aggravate rather than modify the features of the scheme. 

Why then so discriminate between a Priest and Protestant 1 Are 
our clergymen of more passionate temperament than French Catho- 
lics 1 Does the cognomen of the latter, like a charm, dispossess its 
owner of the infirmities of our nature 7 Is the mantle of its name, 
a sufficient guarantee for the morality of all that wear it ? or are they 
of like passions as we are ? 

But our witness, we are told, was a participator in the crimes she 
reveals. How shall the public learn the length and breadth of the 
dark habitations of cruelty except from those who have trodden them 1 
Our criminal courts allow in evidence a witness to criminate as- 
sociates in crime under open promise of pardon to himself. And 
why should we turn a deaf ear to the evidence of one, testifying 
without any conceivable motive but the good of others, under no 
influence but that of truth — under pressure of no circumstances but 
such as are calculated to give the greater weight to her evidence 1 
"They say the tongue of dying men 
Enforce attention, like deep harmony — 
Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain, 
For they breathe truth, that breathe their words in pain." 

LEAVITT, LORD & CO, 
180 Broadway, Ayril 20, 1836. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the Narrative which is now to be laid before the public, the 
world will have a fair specimen of Popery reduced to practice. 
A sure criterion by which to judge of a religion, is to consider it 
in all its relations, and especially, in the influence it has over 
the moral conduct of those who live under its control. 

It is vain to tell us, pointing to a book, " there is our re- 
ligion ; those are our principles ; that is our doctrine." Religion 
is not an abstract good ; not a mere painting to please the eye ; 
neither does the essence of religion consist in ceremony, nor in 
a firm belief in creeds and doctrines. All this is, as it were, the 
mere bark ; the substance and the pith lie in the heart. It is not 
through the bark that the sap is conveyed to the leaves, the flow- 
ers, and the fruit, but through the veins. Nothing is plainer, 
or more simple, than the Christian religion. It may be com- 
pared to a tree perpetually verdant, whose blossoms diffuse their 
fragrance all around, whose expansive branches extend a reviving 
shade to the wandering traveler, parched and panting with the 
heat of the day, and whose mellow fruit hangs in profusion, at 
once to assuage his thirst, and to nourish his body. 

Every tree has bark, and the bark of religion is its exterior 
form. Every soul has a body, and it is through the senses of this 
body that impressions are conveyed upon the mind. Being, there- 
fore, creatures of a compound nature, religion, although simple 
in its essence, is, to a certain degree, compounded for our use. 
It is necessary, therefore, that there should be some exterior form 
of worship, some bark around the trunk of this wide-spreading 
tree, to keep the sap to its direction, and to prevent its being dis- 
sipated by the winds. But it is not necessary that this bark 
should be so protuberant and complicated, as to afford shelter 
and concealment to vermin and corruption : much less necessary 3 
that it should be overloaded with moss and fungus. 

The religion of Christ has its forms, but like its divine origi- 
nal, these forms are comely, simple, necessary, few. In the 
whole system of the Christian dispensation, as it is delivered to 
us in the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour, the forms, or 
the exterior appendages of religion, are so simple and so few, that 
we are almost at a loss to point them out. They are all reduce- 
able to these : the formation of a visible Church, who are com- 
manded to worship the Father " in spirit and in truth ;" the Sa- 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

cramencs of Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, and the preaching 
of the Gospel. 

It cannot be supposed that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
in instituting his Church, introduced any thing unnecessary ; nor 
can we think that any thing essentially necessary relative to the 
government, or to the prosperity of that Church, was forgotten, 
overlooked, or neglected by him. 

In respect to his divine mission, Jesus Christ came to offer 
unto God his Father, a ransom for a lost world, to preach the 
glad tidings of salvation, and to point out the path which leads 
to glory. " / have finished the work" (said the Saviour,) 
which thou gavest me to do" John xvii. 4. How, or where 
are we to find what were the works which Christ came to do, 
and which he tells us he has finished, except in his own Word, 
speaking of which the Psalmist exclaims : " Thy Word is a 
lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." Ps. cxix. 105. 

Since Christ came to save sinners, and since salvation was 
as attainable in the days when Christ dwelt visibly upon earth, 
as it is now, or ever has been since his advent, all that was 
necessary for the salvation of man must have been accomplished 
by our Lord before he left the world. "/ have finished the 
work," says he. The work was the salvation of sinners ; — " The 
Son of Man is come." (said the Saviour,) " to seek and to save 
that ivhich was lost." Luke xix. 1 0. 

Sinners cannot be saved without faith, for " without faith," 
(says the Scripture,) "it is impossible to please God ;" Heb. xi. 
6; neither can they be saved without works, since " faith with- 
out works is dead ;" James ii. 20; consequently, when Christ 
was upon earth, that faith which was necessary for salvation 
was both preached and believed, since "faith cometh by hearing, 
and hearing by the Word of God." Rom. x. 17. The works, 
too, without which "faith is dead" were, and must have been 
known and performed ; since faith and works, as the Scriptures 
declare, must go together. " Nov* ye are clean" (said Christ,) 
"through the Word which I have spoken unto you." John xv. 3. 

It is true, that Christ said, addressing his disciples, " I have 
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" 
John xvi. 12. He did not tell them what those things were. It 
is probable he was alluding to what he would have to suffer, and 
also to what they would have to suffer for his sake. " Howbeit," 
(continues he,) " when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will 
guide you into all truth." John xv. 13. 

" Ye now therefore have sorrow" (continues the Saviour, 
still addressing his disciples:) "bid I will see you again, and 
your heart shall rejoice." John xvi. 22. Christ, to comfort his 
disciples, who were afflicted at the thought of having to part with 
their divine Lord and Master, as to his visible presence, promises 



INTRODUCTION". 5 

them the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, to lead and direct them 
in all their doubts, to strengthen them in their spiritual warfare, 
and to console them in their afflictions. 

This was accomplished on the day of Pentecost, when " they 
v?pre all filed with the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 4. 

Being filled with the Holy Ghost, they were guided, as Christ 
had told them, " into all truth." The sum and substance of the 
truth, which they preached, were committed by them to writing, 
in the Holy Scriptures. This is the Word of God, which the 
true followers of Christ now hold, and ever have held, as a suf- 
ficient, and their only rule of faith and conduct ; for, as the Apostle 
says, " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
prof table for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruc- 
tion in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect } 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 

In order, therefore, that we might " be thoroughly furnished 
unto all good works," the Sacred Scriptures, written by divine 
inspiration, have been transmitted to us from the days of th<* 
Apostles, down to the present time, and will continue to shine as 
" a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path," through the dark 
vista of time, to the consummation of the world. 

With such a light as this, we have no need of the tinsel trap- 
pings of Popery. We prefer to follow the meek and humble 
example of Christ and his Apostles, to the pomp, splendor, and 
pageantry of the church of Rome. The Apostles and disciples 
of Christ lived according to the maxims they inculcated. They 
were plain, and unostentatious in all their ways. They were 
never clad in purple or scarlet. No rings on their fingers, nor 
crowns, nor tiaras, nor mitres on their heads — No magnificent 
palaces had they for the residence of Popes, or Cardinals, or 
Bishops — No chariot and six, had Peter, Paul, or the rest of the 
Apostles — No high-sounding titles to flatter piide, such as the 
Right Reverend, the Most Reverend, Eminently Serene, His 
Holiness, My Lord, Our Lord, and Most Holy.* Their names 
were unadorned with any epithet soever to distinguish them from 
the poorest and lowest of their Christian friends and brethren. 

They would not even suffer themselves to be saluted with the 
common title Master, or Mister, as we have it in English. 

To an unbiassed mind, nothing more strikingly conclusive of 

* Sismondi, the Italian historian, speaking of the influence that these pompous titles 
had on the people of Italy, says: "These decorations always descended still lower 
among the commonality. Since thirty years they no longer write even to a shoemaker, 
•without calling him "Motto illustre.' But. in multiplying titles, they only multiplied 
discontent and mortification. Each one, in place of what, they granted him. only saw 
what they refused him: and there was no little gentleman, or dandy, and no petit 
officer, who did not look upon himself as mortally wounded, if, in mistake, he was 
saluted with the title of '■Most celebrated or Most Excellent.'' C Chiarissimo ed Ex 
cellrntissimo ') in place of that to which he aspired, ' Most Illustrious,' " Sismojidj 
Hist, Iial. T. xvi. p. 227. 

I* 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

the apostacy of the Romish church could be exhibited, than the 
contrast between the simplicity that every way characterized the 
Apostolic and primitive Church, and the pomp, splendor, and 
baubles, which encumber the Popish. 

The glaring opposition, however, between the church of Rome 
and the Church of Christ, is all glossed over by the defenders of 
Popery, when they tell us that " the Apostles could not build 
palaces, and live in pomp and splendor in those days ; because 
the Christian Church was yet in its infancy, the disciples few in 
number, and their enemies powerful and intolerant. They would 
have dressed in scarlet and purple, have lived in palaces, have 
worn crowns, and tiaras, and mitres, &c. had they not been re- 
strained by fear" ! ! 

Such reasoning as this is- quite sufficient to reconcile the minds 
of Papists to the vast disparity between the pride and splendor of 
their own church, and the primitive simplicity of the Church of 
Christ. 

If these were the reasons by which the Apostles were restrain- 
ed, why, at least, we would ask, did they not assume some of the 
glorious titles of the Right Reverend, the Eminently Serene, 
His Holiness, My Lord, Most Holy, &c. ? These titles they 
might have enjoyed with security. The reason, however, for the 
whole, all Jesuitical subterfuge aside, is this : — The Apostles 
trode in the footsteps of their divine Master, followed his pre- 
cepts, and acted in conformity with the doctrines which they 
themselves inculcated to others. Rut the Prelates of the Romish 
church, on the contrary, have deviated from Apostolical simplici- 
ty, because they have wandered from the straight and narrow 
path marked out by Christ, and have constituted themselves the 
infallible judges of that, by which they are to be judged. 

Having now shown, that the Bible, and not the church of Rome, 
is the Christian's guide to salvation, we rejoice to have it in our 
power to prove what we have advanced, not only from Scripture 
and reason, as well as from the striking contrast and opposition 
between the Romish church at large, and the simplicity of the 
Church of Christ, but by showing the practical effects of the 
erroneous and pernicious system of Popery as it works in its in- 
terior and more hidden recesses. The Narrative that is now laid 
open before the public in this volume, is a disclosure made by 
one who has had an opportunity of knowing, from sad experience, 
what the influence and effects of Popery are, in circumstances 
where it can have full sway. 

The authoress of the Narrative was a poor, heart-broken widow, 
who, by the death of her husband, was left destitute, and far 
from her home, among strangers. Floating about, like a wreck, 
on the stormy sea of life, the adversity of fortune drove her to 
the island of Cuba. She landed at Havanna, the capital of that 



INTRODUCTION. / 

island, and there fell into the hands, not of the desperate pirates 
whose depredations are confined to the highway ocean, but into 
the hands of those Spiritual Pirates who, under the cloak of re- 
ligion, prowl, like the midnight wolf, to seize and satiate their 
appetites upon the poor and wandering sheep who happen to fall 
into their way. 

Hardly had her foot touched the shore, before one of these 
prowling wolves in sheep's clothing scented her out. He was 
one of the Reverend Fathers ; honored, revered, and worship- 
ed, by his people, whose vices he Canonized, and upon whose 
credulity he lived. Disguised as a citizen, with the baldness of 
his head, shorn according to the discipline of his church, conceal- 
ed and covered with a wig, he pays his addresses to the unfortu- 
nate stranger, gains her affections, conducts her to his house, and 
constitutes her, at once, Mistress of his domestic concerns. Had 
she known that the fond lover was a Popish Priest, never 
would she have yielded, as she declares, to his amorous solicita- 
tions. She knew it not, until she was his prisoner, and then the 
door of escape was closed. 

With this fiend in human shape, (for such the sequel of this 
volume will clearly prove him to have been,) this forlorn and 
unfortunate woman lived five years. 

Being Mistress of his house, and the Queen of his heart, all 
the domestic concerns were under her control. He poured out 
into her bosom the feelings that flowed through his polluted 
heart, and imparted to her, not only his own secrets, but those 
that were intrusted to him under the seal of Confession. She 
knew every thing ; and she tells us what she knows. She was 
the witness of his character under all the various shapes which 
it assumed : at home, under the exterior of a Priest ; — abroad, 
under that of a citizen. She was his companion at the ball- 
room, the masquerades, the gambling-tables, and the tea-parties. 
She accompanied him in the Promenades ; rode with him in 
his nigbtly excursions for dissipation; was introduced by him to 
his fellow Priests, who were as profligate as himself, and was 
conducted, dressed as a Monk, into the sacred (!) recesses of the 
Convents. In fine, he introduced her into all the scenes of dis- 
sipation and vice in which he was accustomed to be found 
Even when he was sent by his Bishop, abroad, on a parochial 
visit to Puerto Principe, even thither she had to go to gratify his 
inclinations, and to witness his atrocities. Here, poor Rosa- 
mond, for this is the name of the authoress, poor Rosamond here 
saw what no one but a fiend would ever have thought of perpe- 
trating, and what none but a beast would have had the immod- 
esty to do. This was the seduction of the daughter of his friend, 
a girl, or child, in fact, of but fourteen years of age. Such was 
his beastly lust, such the mad phiensy of that lust, and such th* 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

more than beastly, more than diabolical pleasure he took in the 
exhibition of that lust, that, with a knife in his hand, he threat^ 
ened death to Rosamond, if she should divulge what he was 
going to do. He told her that she would have to be present in 
the room while the deed was being done. Leaving her, then, 
paralyzed with fear, he retires, for a short time, from her pre- 
sence, and, having heard the Confession of the lamb whom he 
was about to sacrifice to his lust, he returns, leading his victim, 
the innocent Mariette, just blooming into her fourteenth year, 
into the fatal slaughter-house of her virtue, and there, in the pre- 
sence of the fainting Rosamond, perpetrates a deed, which, we 
think we may say, is unparalleled in all the records of crime. 

We regard these disclosures as the most important of any that 
ever issued from the Press; and especially, the more so, at the 
present juncture of events. Popery in Europe is evidently on 
the wane, and the United States will probably be her cradle and 
her throne. Europe, after being oppressed for ages, begins to 
feel the weight of the " Beast" upon her back. She now strug- 
gles to be free. Her convulsive throes shake the mighty " Ba- 
bylon." The triple crown begins to totter on the head of the 
"Most Holy," (for this is the title of the Roman Pontiff,)* and, 
rolling his eyes over the desolations of Europe, he has fixed 
them upon this rising Republic, and has marked it as his own. 
There are still in Europe, as the Catholic Miscellany, a Popish 
Paper published in Charleston, states, no fewer than one hundred 
and thirty million Roman Catholics now in the world, and the 
concentration of that flood is now settling upon us. 

When the influx ceases, and the dregs subside, be assured we 
shall be buried in the filth, or shall have to fly from our native 
soil. It is vain, futile, and demonstrative of ignorance too 
gross, for any man, who calls himself a Protestant or friend to 
liberty, to pretend that there is no danger from the Popish flood 

* The celebrated Popish theologian, Peter Dens, treating on what is bordering 
upon heresy, says, " A proposition male sonans — a proposition that sounds bad, or 
that is offensive to pious ears I is that, which, indeed, does not convey a meaning 
that is openly contrary to faith, but which signifies, however, something that sounds 
wrong, unbecoming, and unworthy ; for instance,— if any one should say, that the 
Roman Pontiff is not rightly called Most Holy, (Sanctissimum,") Dens' Theol. de 
Virt. Fidei N. 55. 

Here we see that it is bordering upon heresy, and sounds bad in Popish ears, to 
say, that the Roman Pontiff is not rightly called " Most Holy." Be he what he may. 
—ever so wicked,— and that wicked, and abandoned some have been, Papists them- 
selves cannot, and do not deny, still he must be called "Most Holy." What can we 
say to this? What can any rational man think about it? What a perversion of 
language ! What violation of truth ! What execrable wickedness ! to call a man 
" Most Holy." who is known to be most unholy. It is wicked enough in the Popish 
church to Canonize and worship their Saints ; but here their wickedness stretches 
Itself to so superlative a degree of blasphemy, that they blush not to Canonize, that 
Us, to beatify, and to declare ''Most Holy" the very devil himself; or, what is the 
same thing, his image, inasmuch as an abandoned sinner, is, at least, a figure of Satan, 
whose image he bears. Well may we say, of those whose doctrine is such as this, 
^rhat John said of the Jews, « Ye are of your father -, the devil." John viii. 44. 



INTRODUCTION. \J 

that is pouring in upon us. One hundred and thirty millions of 
these restless devotees, all fixing their eyes on our smiling val- 
leys of the West: — the Jesuits, that horde of spiritual highway- 
robbers, those restive arch-politicians, whose intrigues have con- 
vulsed the strongest monarchies of Europe, just suppressed, and 
suppressed forever ! by the "Royal Order" of the kingdom of 
Spain, (as we read even in their own "Irish Advocate," publish- 
ed in Montreal, September 1st, of the present year,) this horde 
of ruthless marauders, driven from their native Popish soil, whi- 
ther can they fly, but to the wilds of our own dear country ? — 
Europe has again repudiated them, disfranchised them, spurns 
them, and confiscates their Monastic rendezvous to the public 
good. The Spaniards,— even the Spaniards, — the very name 
sounds Popish, and strikes a panic through the heart, — the Span- 
iards themselves have drawn that sword, which they were taught 
to plunge in the heart, and to stain with the blood of heretics ; 
have drawn it at last, to defend their rights against the Jesuits, 
and against their Jesuitical influence. 

Whither can they fly ? — I ask again — Whither, but to our own 
devoted country ? — Every thing here conspires to give them 
complete success. Our Constitution secures unto them, and 
theirs, the right of suffrage. One million and a half of their 
adherents are already here. Their colleges, and cathedrals, and 
churches, and Nunneries, are rising on every hill, and spreading 
through every vale. The soft persuasion of their eloquence 
drops like honey on the carnal heart, and many are the victims, 
especially in the West, who are caught in the snare of these 
arch-fowlers. All the rabble in the land is theirs, in preference 
to the pure and holy Gospel of our faith. And, for a handful of 
their Popish gold, many is the traitor that will sell the dearest 
interests of his country. 

But our greatest danger lies in this — the apathy, the ignorance, 
and the indifference of our people in relation to this momentous 
subject. We see, or might see, would we but open our eyes, 
what the experience of Europe has taught the potentates there ; 
and yet we hear there is no danger. The chorus of this no- 
danger ditty, when two millions more of these Papists arrive 
among us, will, I fear, be the clashing of shillalahs, — down with 
the heretics. This tune has already tingled in our ears in 
Broadway-Hall ; and the star-spangled banner of our Republic, 
in St. Louis, has done obeisance to the Consecrated Wafer, and 
has been virtually pledged to espouse the cause of Popery. 

No danger still, — and no danger will be the lullaby till the 
fangs of the Serpent clench the very vitals of our Republic, and 
his fiery tail sweep us from our shores. 

If the horrid picture of Popery which is laid before the public 
in these disclosures, is not sufficient to convince our fellow- 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

citizens that the diffusion of it through this country, is an evil 
to be deprecated by every philanthropist, I am at a loss how to 
conceive what will convince them. 

The Narrative is the unadorned effusions of a soul that has 
been beguiled by Priestly solicitations ; kept in captivity during 
five years ; deluded, — lost, — bewildered, — and undone, by Priest- 
craft. 

She represents, not the licentiousness of a single Priest, but 
the general depravity of a whole country. She presents us with 
the picture of Popery as it exists in Cuba; and the same, we 
have no reason to doubt, extends through all the West-India 
islands that are under the Priestly control of Rome. Many of 
the important statements that she makes, are confirmed by testi- 
mony that cannot be rejected. This we have introduced into 
the notes. Among other credentials, the thirty-two letters of the 
Rev. Father Pies, stand not the least conspicuous. 

That these letters were written by the Reverend Father, 
whose signature they bear, we are ready to prove by two witnesses 
who are now in this city. We prove them too, by confronting 
them with his own handwriting, which it would be futile for 
him to deny. 

We are sorry to have it to state, that the authoress, on her 
way in the steamboat from Philadelphia to New-York, had her 
trunk stolen, or carried away by mistake. In this were some 
important scrips, and several letters written by her Priest, the 
Rev. Father Canto, and by other Priests. These would have 
been an inestimable appendage to the work. They would have 
shown, as the authoress has observed, "the Rev. Father's heart." 

While we are touching upon this unfortunate occurrence, we 
would take the opportunity of requesting any one soever, who may 
know any thing relative to where those papers and letters may be 
found, to inform us of it. The letters must be in the hands of 
some one; others may have seen them ; and we may yet have 
the satisfaction of ascertaining where they may be found. 
Should they yet be recovered, they shall be spread before the 
public. 

In regard to the truth of the statements contained in this Nar- 
rative, we can say we have not the least doubt. We are person- 
ally acquainted with the authoress, and we hesitate not to 
express our opinion that she is a sincere convert, and a devout 
Christian. She appears before the public with the best of 
recommendations ; and we pray that her life may be spared ; and 
that she may long continue to be a bright and shining light, and 
an ornament to the Church of which she is a member. 

We can say that no pecuniary inducement led to the writing 
of this work. She was actuated by no other motive than the 
loye of God, and the good of the world. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

Her health is now so delicate and weak, that death seems 
already to have marked her as his own. She is wasting away 
under a complaint that seems bent on carrying her to the grave. 
She rejoices, however, at the prospect that lies before her; and feels 
willing to appear before her Judge. Her path of life has been 
strewed with thorns ; her days have been few, and full of evil ; 
or, rather, it may well be said, one continual night has spread 
its mantle over almost all her life. 

Under all these circumstances, who can doubt the truth of 
what she has disclosed? 

One pf the most incredible of all her relations, is confirmed by 
the testimony of Dr. Ethan A. Ward of this city, a gentleman 
highly esteemed as a physician, and for the integrity of his moral 
character. This gentleman was in Havanna, and saw the 
wretches executed for the atrocious crime of stealing young 
negroes, for the purpose of cutting them up, and making them 
into sausages. 

The Doctor returned to New-York about two years before the 
escape of Rosamond, and had frequently mentioned the fact of 
the men's being executed for the above mentioned deed, even 
before such a person as Rosamond's being in Havanna was known 
in this city ; and Rosamond, the authoress of this Narrative, re- 
lated the fact to her friends in this city, previous to her acquaint- 
ance with Doctor Ward, and without knowing that any one here 
had been informed of it. 

We now leave the public to decide, whether the relation of our 
authoress is not confirmed in a manner that puts the truth of it 
beyond the shadow of a doubt. 

Furthermore ; we rejoice, for the sake of the triumph of the 
truth, that we have the means of exhibiting before the public, a 
presumptive evidence of the truth of the whole of the disclosures 
made in this interesting and important Narrative. I refer now, 
to the thirty-two letters, of which we have already spoken. 
These letters, written by the Rev. Father Pies, are in our pos- 
session ; and the lady to whom they are written, is, also, actu- 
ally present in this city. No further proof of the moral corrup- 
tion of the Popish Clergy in the island of Cuba, need be exhibited, 
than these very letters. The superscription of two of them, of 
which we have given a partial fac-simile, shows that the 
Reverend writer had bid adieu to the last vestiges of modesty. 
His letters terminate with " Fugo," "I fly." Well, indeed, 
may he have intimated, that his passions had taken the wings 
of audacity, and transported him into the blackest, foulest 
regions of libidinous excess! — A blank in the fac-simile, marks 
the absence of what, in the original, would raise a blush on 
immodesty herself. We have to suppress it. The indecency 
of the dotted thing, is so lasciviously abominable, that the ex- 



]2 INTRODUCTION. 

ftibition of it before the public, would be an outrage upon 
modesty, that no motive, however pure or laudable, could sanc- 
tion. Those, however, who are curious to see to what extreme 
pollution Priestly celibacy leads her captives, can be favored 
with the revolting sight, by calling at the office of the " Down- 
fall of Babylon," No. 131 Nassau-st. New York. 

Of the striking and frightful engravings which are inter- 
spersed throughout this Narrative, that of the Purgatory-room^ 
at page 121, is one of the most terrific. It will doubtless appear 
to some, that the authoress, here, has really drawn a picture wholly 
of her own imagination. Devils are here seen dancing in the 
flames of Purgatory, with spectres the most hideous to behold. 
Some are playing on the violin, and others on the flute. Some 
have pitch-forks, to turn the poor roasting souls; others are arm- 
ed with fiery serpents, to torment and sting them. Some have 
gaping mouths to swallow them up, and others seem ready to 
dart upon them, and, with their long iron claws, to tear them 
into pieces. One is seen, (strange figure, however, in Purgatory !) 
dressed like a Monk, standing in the middle of the devilish place, 
over a pot of burning sulphur, with a snake coiled round his feet, 
and with a fire-brand waving in his hand. A horrible grin 
spreads his mouth from ear to ear. He stands, and looks, com- 
mander-in-chief of the infernal group. All this is to be seen. 

The thought occurs, — "if, indeed, there is a Purgatory after 
death, we doubt not that Monks and Priests are, verily, and in- 
deed, commanders-in-chief;" — for, of all men, as this Narrative 
proves, they stand the most in need of purging. 

Poor Rosamond was introduced into this sulphureous abode, 
this Purgatorial bug-bear in the Convent, to show her how much 
more the wicked heretics would have to suffer when they go to 
hell. 

Purgatory, with all its hissing serpents, and sulphureous flames ; 
with all its pitch-forks, devils, and voracious mouths, is only 
meant for pious Catholics, whose venial sins have not been ex- 
piated while on earth. This is their prison " till they have paid 
the last far-thing ;" and this farthing must be paid by them, or 
by their friends, to the Holy Priests for Masses. Those that 
have no money, have to roast until the Day of Judgment. 

Incredible as this Purgatory account may appear to the people 
of these United States, I will inform them, that in Popish 
countries, it is a common appendage to almost every Religious 
Order ! both of Monks and Nuns. There is one of these Purga- 
torial scare-crows, even now, in Kentucky. I myself, when 
a Priest, frequently visited it. I have done penance in it, and 
have seen the Nuns on penance in it. This one is in the Con- 
vent of Loretto, about twelve miles from Bardstown, in the state 
of Kentucky. The Nuns in this establishment are, or, at 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

least, were, in the year 1829, under the direction of the Reverend 
Father Chabrat. The Purgatory-room in this Nunnery is, in- 
deed, different from that in Cuba ; but, still, it is frightful and 
fiorrible enough to terrify, not only Nuns, but even Priests them- 
selves, as I know from my own personal experience. Here there 
is no pot of burning sulphur ; but, they have the devils, and ser- 
pents, and pitch-forks, and a variety of other horrible figures, to 
"terrify and keep the poor deluded Nuns in subjection to their 
Ghostly Masters, Instead of sulphur, the punishment in this 
Purgatory-room, is cold. The Nuns are confined here, doing 
penance on their knees, in the coldest days of winter, without a 
spark of fire to warm them. They remain in this painful atti- 
tude, shivering with cold, until they are almost ready to expire. 
f myself have done penance in that room until my body sunk 
exhausted to the floor. 

I speak ©f this Purgatory -room ^as being at Loretto now. It 
was there, at least, in the year 1829, and during all the time of 
my residence at Bardstown college, previous to that time, which 
was, I think, about nine years. If any of the Protestants have 
children being educated in that Nunnery, as they generally have, 
they can ascertain from them the truth of what I state. They 
also, at times, are admitted into the Purgatory-room, accompanied 
by one of the Holy Nuns, to explain to them the nature of the 
things and, by their sophistry, to proselyte them to the faith J 

In all the disclosures which are made by our authoress, and in 
the "Downfall of Babylon?*' nothing is advanced, incredible as 
it may appear to some, but what is strictly true ; and what can 
be proved by Protestants, or by Papists, if the latter could be in- 
duced to give their testimony. 

Every circumstance taken into consideration, the truth of this 
Narrative cannot he doubted. The authoress is a sincere, hum- 
ble, and pious convert, declining in health, and, apparently, sink- 
ing into the grave. She appears to have a well-grounded hope 
beyond the declining shadow of the present life. She looks 
tipon death, not as a king of terrors, but as a friend. She speaks 
of the world as if it were a mere transitory dream. She remem- 
bers what she has suffered ; is conscious that it is to God alone 
.she owes her deliverance , and she longs to be with her deliverer. 
■She seems to feel, and to know, with St. Paul, " that if her 
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, she has a build- 
ing of God, a house not made with hands 1 eternal in the 
heavens. 7 * 

The testimonials of her character, which are given by her pas- 
tor, the Rev. N. E. Johnson, and by others, we think, are suffi- 
ciently recommendatory to remove any doubt that might arise in 
the public mind relative to the sincerity and veracity of the 
authoress. 

2 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

Two of the most incredible facts related in the Narrative, hare 
been proved by the testimony of others, — by testimony, too, that 
can be substantiated beyond a doubt. I allude to the negro 
sausages, and the Purgatory-room. 

Then, again, she has the testimony of the Rev. Father Pies 
himself, in the thirty-two letters written by his own hand, and 
signed with his own signature. 

The substance of all the facts which she relates, is also con- 
firmed, in the notes, by authority which Papists, at least, cannot 
dispute; that is, by the authority of their own Councils, Popes, 
Saints, and historians. 

With all this mass of positive, circumstantial, and presumptive 
evidence, there is not a jury in the world who would not pass 
the verdict, guilty, against the Reverend culprits, who, in this 
Narrative, are brought before the bar of public opinion. 

The picture which is drawn, is not of a solitary individual, but 
of the whole confraternity, from Bishop, down to the lowest 
Priest that earns his bread by telling fortunes. From Bishops, 
whose hoary locks have been bleached with a century of crimes, 
to Priests whose faces are disfigured with licentiousness, and 
whose tottering limbs no more can bear them to the masquerades, 
balls, or cock-fights. 

The picture which is drawn, is not a portrait, but the tout 
ensemble of what Popery is, where Popery bears the sway. It is 
principle and doctrine put to practice. It is the " work work- 
ing" as they call it, " ex opere operatoP It is the demonstra- 
tion that the system was framed in hell ; — that hoods, and veils, 
and cloaks, are masks to screen the vast deformity from view ; — 
that incense, bells, and beads, — Breviaries, — Pater's, — Aves, are 
but fumigated sounds, a kind of lullaby for superstition. 

Let them not tell us, that it is in Cuba alone, that the work 
thus works. The same scene is presented to the view in France, 
Spain, Portugal, and Italy. The curtain there, has been raised 
by their own Popes, Saints, and historians ; and the tragic scene 
has been handed down from age to,age, polluted on every leaf, in 
every page. 

There is not a corner of the earth where this insidious Serpent 
has coiled his way, but the slime of his pollutions has defiled the 
land, or the venom of his sting has paralyzed the heart. Cast the 
eye over the distant walls of China, and there we see this " Queen 
of heaven" rolling, Juggernaut-like, upon a car with the goddess 
of the Pagans. Turn again the eye to India's burning plains, 
and peep into Goa's loathsome dungeon of the Inquisition, and 
there behold the ghastly victims of intolerance, panting and suffo- 
cating for the air of heaven, because they are guilty of the crime 
ef thinking for themselves. Look upon the verdant fields of Ire- 
land, that land of native genius— the si?ht draws tears into one's 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

e y e ? — the Priestly pedagogues, with whip in hand, drive the poor 
submissive sons of Erin, as a teemsrrran drives his cattle. See 
them buried in ignorance and superstition, deprived of the Word 
of God,* and believing that a prayer-book is the Bible. 

Let the eye wander again to the North, and spread itself over 
the vast domains of Canada. There may we count ninety and 
nine of a hundred, so illiterate as not to distinguish one letter 
from another. They can count their Beads or Rosaries, but have 
not learned to lisp their A, B, C.| 

Go where we will, if Popery has long been there, we see a 
desert, and we breathe on death. 

We present this Narrative before the public, plain and simple, 
as it flowed from the pen of the authoress. The only corrections 
which we have made, are in the orthography and punctuation. 
Beauty, when unadorned, is said to be adorned the most. The 
beauty of originality, and the artless expressiveness of truth, 
which run through every line of this important Narrative, would 
have been lost, had it been retouched. We, therefore, present it 
as the genuine production of a heart bleeding at the recollection 
of her past misconduct; bruised and crushed under the iron hand 
of despotism: stained and polluted by the Spiritual Guardians 
by whom she was decoyed. 

A tale she has told to the world, that ought to be wafted upon 
every wind that blows around the globe. Pictures she has drawn 
which have been etched on copper, and which, we trust, will be 
engraved on the memory of every patriot who loves his country, 
and of every Christian who fears his God. 

I have this day, and having thus far advanced in the Introduc- 
tion, been sent for by the authoress. I found her dangerously 
ill. Her physician, Doctor Ethan A.Ward, was standing by her 
bed-side, expecting every moment to see her breathe her last. The 
faculties of her mind were unimpaired, but her body was exhaust- 
ed. She tried to speak, but was unable. After a short interval, 
however, she recovered the use of speech ; the Doctor, then, at my 
suggestion, asked her if what she had written in her Narrative 
was true : she replied, " Yes, the truth, and nothing but the truth." 

A death-bed is a detecter of the heart, 

" Where tir'd dissimulation drop* her mask, 
That mistress of the scene, through life's grimace: 
Here, real and apparent are the same." 
r Young's Night Thoughts. 

Who could doubt her word ?— Death, with his stern visage, 
seems to stand before her. — The Christian fears him Hot. I ask- 



* £ee " Downfall of Babylon," Vol. I. and Vol II., No. 3. 
t B&e " Downfall of Babylon," Vol. I,, No. 35. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

ed her. c; Rosamond, are you happy in the Lord V- — : * I am happy/* 
she replied ; "my trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ.*' — Her coun- 
tenance stamped the approbation of truth on what she said; and 
resignation sat smiling on her lips. Testimony such as this, 
even incredulity itself could not resist. Is it to be supposed, thai 
a person, apparently in the very arms of death, and exulting in 
the glorious hopes of immortality, would breathe her last in con- 
firmation of a lie? The strongest motives now were present to 
induce her to speak the truth: the world receding from her view; 
death standing at the door ; and eternity opening before her. 
The truth of her Narrative cannot be doubted. The pious con- 
vert has asrain, through the blessing of the Lord, recovered ; but 
the testimony which she gave, was. to all appearance, the last; 
therefore, it may be said, that her Narrative is confirmed by the 
seal of death itself. 

Admitted : — the Narrative is true. — Where does Popery now 
stand ? — or, rather, where will it fly to hide itself? — the picture 
is drawn : — truth has confirmed it.' 

It is vain for the Papist to tell us, that these are abuses unsanc- 
tioned and condemned by the church. If they are abuses, they 
are universal wherever Popery prevails. They are, moreover, 
sanctioned by their church; — or what do they mean by Church? 
— If it be asked, ,; what is the established religion in Cuba V' — 
Will not the answer be, i; it is the Roman catholic religion V' — 
By whom is the church there governed ? — Is it not by Romish 
Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests ? — What is thedoctrine taught 
there? — Is it not the same as that which is taught in Rome? — 
Are they not under the jurisdiction and authority of the Pope of 
Rome 1 — And why does he not, in the plenitude of his Apostol 
ical power, correct the abuses? — "An error," (as Augustine re- 
marks,) "which is not condemned, is approved." Neither let it 
be said, that these abominations are unknown to the Pope. If 
they are unknown, it is because he does not wish to know them ; 
and what sort of a universal Shepherd, then, is he ? — Is there a 
foot of territory in the United States upon which this Spirited 
Hawk has not fixed his eye? — When his authority is resisted, 
the fact soon reaches his ears ; witness the case of Hogam the 
refractory Priest in Philadelphia; and of Fearnon, the schismatic 
Priest in Brooklyn. His eyes are keen enough to see, when dan- 
ger, however distant, threatens his own royal throne; and his 
voice is loud enough to thunder his anathemas from pole to pole. 
But, alas ! when his own wolves are tearing the sheep to pieces, 
and the honor of the King of kings is trampled in the dust, he 
can neither hear nor see. 

Where, too, is the Infallible Church all this while ?— Where 
are the Infallible Pastors, who pretend, that he who hears theism 
hears Christ; and he who despises them, despises Christ? 



INTROBUCTION. 17 

Strange paradox ! the Holy Roman Catholic Church is in 
Cuba, and it is not in Cuba.— If it is in Cuba, then it witnesses 
the desolations of which we speak ; and, not correcting them, it 
stands amenable for ail the crimes it sanctions. — If it is not in 
Cuba, then it is nowhere on the globe ; because the Bishops in 
Cuba, as well as those in every other country, are not consecra- 
ted until the Pope's Bull arrives to sanction and confirm it. 

The authoress informs us, indeed, that some of the criminal 
Priests are recalled to Rome ; but then, the rest are left to deso- 
late the country. — Where is the Church of Christ, we ask, all 
this time ? — According to Popery, the people have no other guide 
than their Pastors, the Popish Priests. To these they are bound 
to Confess their sins, to submit their conscience. — If these err, 
then, if the doctrine of Popery be true, the people must err with 
them ; for, as the Scripture declares, " If the blind lead the 
blind, both shall fall into the ditch." Matt. xv. 14. Where, 
then, we inquire again, is the Church of Christ ? — If Popery be 
true, Christ has not a Church upon the earth ; for Christ declares 
that u the Son of man is come to seek a.nd to save that which 
was lost" Luke xix. 10; but the Popish Priests, as we see, go to 
seek and to destroy those over whom they preside. 

The effect of Popery, as we see, and which is confirmed by 
every page of history, is to subjugate the understanding to the 
dictates of Priestly authority, to keep the people in ignorance, to 
encourage superstition, and to work upon their fears with threats 
and tortures. 'Had they the Word of God, instead of interested 
and wicked Priests, to direct them, all these abuses, as they 
call them, would cease. Looking into that Sacred Mirror, they 
could not but see the moral deformity of their own character ; 
and, if a spark of conscience glowed in their bosoms, they would 
be stimulated to correct their lives. But under the Popish 
system, the "Word of God is closed forever. The Confessional 
is the dark recess whence emanates the instructions by which 
the people are to regulate their lives. The keys of " Peter" 
debar from heaven, all who do not .enter by that door. How 
deplorable is the necessity which excludes from the kingdom of 
heaven, all who do not pour their thoughts into the polluted 
hearts of Romish Priests, and submit their conscience to their 
dictates! — Ever to be pitied is the virtuous female who has no 
other path to heaven, than by passing through the door of the 
Confessional, and bending at the feet of Ghostly Fathers burn- 
ing with lust. 

Christ never instituted a system fraught with so much danger ; 
subject to such inevitable evils. He never could have been so 
unreasonable as to make it^ obligatory upon sinners to Confess to 
sinners, for obtaining from himself the pardon of their sins.— Never 
could he have bound us to submit our conscience, and regulate 
2* 



IS INTRODUCTION. 

our lives, by the dictates of men, sinful and fallible as ourselresv 
What a contradiction, and what a chasm in the Popish doctrine t 
i: The Church," (say they, meaning their own church,) " is 
infallible, and we are bound to obey the Church." — If we ask 
them what constitutes the Church, they tell us that it is " the 
Congregation of all those who profess the faith and doctrine of 
Christ, and who are governed, on earth, by one Sovereign Head 
and Pastor, after Christ." Dens r Theol. de Eccle. Xo. 70. 
This Sovereign Head and Pastor, is the Pope ; who (mark the 
expression) governs after Christ ; — not under Christ. 

But now, for the Infallibility. — The Church, the say, is infal- 
lible. This infallibility they distinguish in a twofold sense. 
The one, they denominate an active and authoritative infalli- 
bility ; that is, an infallibility in teaching and defining; the 
other, they call a passive infallibility, by which they mean an 
infallibility in learning and believing. (Id. ib. No. SO.) 

Infallibility, considered in its active and authoritative sense, 
belongs to the Church in respect to its Head, the Sovereign 
Pontiff, and to its Prelates ; that is, to its Bishops. This infalli- 
bility does not belong to the Church in respect to its lay mem- 
bers, or inferior pastors ; that is, the Priests. (Id. ib.) Thus & 
man is said to see, although this seeing does not belong to him 
in respect to any of the other members, of the body, except the 
eyes; so, in regard to the Church, infallibility belongs to it 
only in respect to the Pope, and to the Bishops of the Church , 
(Id. ib.) 

The Priests are not infallible : they can err, and yet we are 
bound to submit our conscience and the regulation of our lives 
to their dictates ! — The blind are bound to follow the blind ! — 
Where is the Infallible Church all this while ? — Of what practi- 
cal utility is the Infallible Church, if we have to follow fallible 
Guides ? 

It is in vain, and a mere gratuitous assertion, for them to tell 
us that the Priests, although fallible, cannot long preach a 
doctrine contrary to that of the Romish Church, without the 
knowledge of it reaching the Bishop's ear: this, in the first 
place, we take the liberty to deny ; because they can preach, and 
often do preach, just what they choose. Even granting, that in 
their public instructions to the people, they should, not preach 
any thing in direct opposition to their leading and cardinal 
doctrines, or dogmas of faith; yet. they often, nay, I can say, 
always, preach in such a manner as to wind into their discourses 
a certain system of morality, the tendency of which is to lull 
the consciences of their people into security, instead of preach- 
ing" to them in such a manner as to awaken them to a sense of 
their danger. 

Moreover, although what they preach should reach the 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

Bishop's ear, the objection does not end there. It may reach his 
ear, and there it may stop. Who is the Bishop ?— a fallible 
man, (as they admit,) like the Priests themselves. Even if it 
should be admitted that they were all infallible, in the Popish 
sense of the word, their infallibility does not render them impec- 
cable. The prerogative of impeccability they have not yet had 
the audacity to claim, and that for reasons too obvious to need 
an explanation. 

If the Priest and his Bishop, therefore, are not truly spiritual 
and holy men, but directly the contrary, it is foolishness, and 
inconsistent, to suppose that they will conscientiously discharge 
their duty in relation to the spiritual necessities of their people; 
because " the carnal mind is enmity against God ; and to be 
carnally minded is death!" Rom. viii. 6, 7. 

Is it not, therefore, as repugnant to reason and common sense 7 
as it is to the Word of God, to suppose that the mind that is 
" enmity against God" will endeavor to promote his honor and 
glory in the salvation of souls 1 And, as the being carnally 
minded is death, spiritual death, can those, who are spiritually 
dead, give life to those who are spiritually dead % To establish 
the claim of infallibility upon a foundation such as this, is an 
insult to the world. 

But it is not in the pulpit, however, where the poor deluded 
people drink their deadliest draught. It is in the Confessional, 
that secret tribunal, where the deadly whisper never reaches his 
Lordship's ear ; in that tribunal which is closed with what they 
call the Seal of Confession, and locked with the keys of Peter's 
authority. It is in that dark labyrinth where those Spiritual 
Guides lead the blindfolded victims to the chambers of death. 
There they are hid from the view of all ; and it is there that 
they can chisel out the rough and passive block into whatever 
shape they choose, into the very "image of the Beast" Here, 
then, the Priest, who (even according to their own admission > 
is a fallible man, leads his victim secretly along a path where no 
eye can reach him, and no ear can hear ; and, O ! well do I 
know the path they tread, since I, one of their anointed, had to 
tread it. 

Even supposing these spiritual guides were all converted and 
spiritual men, still, in the Tribunal of Confession, they are, (as 
is not denied,) fallible, and liable to err; consequently the 
advice and instructions they give, must vary according as their 
judgments vary ; and the variability, of their judgment depends 
on a thousand fortuitous circumstances ; such, for instance, as 
the natural frame and constitution* of the mind, education, preju- 
dice, ignorance, and many other e& ceteras, which might be- 
named. 

But to suppose that all timt» spiritual guides, or even a* 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

majority of them, are converted and spiritual men, is a stretch 
of credulity which cannot be sanctioned by the Word of God, 
by probability, or by common experience ; and living facts prove 
that they are any thing else than spiritual, or any thing like 
spiritual and converted men. How great, therefore, must be the 
havoc which they make of those souls who are thus blindly and 
secretly led by their instruction ! Where now is the bubble of 
infallibility ? — It all disappears in the dark recesses of the Con- 
fessional ; and, like a stone dropped into the water, its multiplied 
undulations are lost in the wide ocean of uncertainty ; and not a 
line or ripple is left to mark its limits, or to show where it can 
be found.* 

Having now introduced the reader to the interesting and im- 
portant disclosures which this volume unfolds, we commend the 
work to our fellow-citizens, with the prayer, that God may make 
it subservient to his honor and glory. 

Of all scourges with which a country can be afflicted, Popery, 
confessedly, is the worst* 

May the watchmen, who stand upon the walls of Zion, re- 
echo the alarm. May every Christian church be now united in 
resisting the insidious foe whose standard is already erected on 
every hill, in every dale, of our wide extended country. Chris- 
tians, statesmen, philanthropists, Jews, infidels, and savages, all 
are interested in the result, whether Popery shall rise or fall. — 
Christians, first, will feel the sting of the Serpent under the 
crackling fagot : — statesmen next/ when the banners of liberty 
shall be furled in obeisance to the triple crown, who owns 
no head on earth, nor head in heaven. — Philanthropists, kind 
and indulgent as their hearts may be, must also bend before 
the despot, or be crushed beneath his power. — Jews know, from 
the past, what their future lot would be, — exile, slavery, or 
death. — Infidelity might amalgamate awhile, and lend their arms 
and forces to " the Beast ;" but, in the end, would share the 
common fate; for Popery must be Lord of all. — The savage, 
whose heel is like the deer, would fly, in vain, before the blood- 
hounds that have fattened on the carcasses of the defenceless 
aborigines of Peru and Mexico. — The country would be a deso- 
lated waste. — One temple would be seen, the temple of " the 
Beast" — one throne erected, church and state combined. — 
Liberty of conscience, liberty of the Press, liberty of speech, 
would be driven, hand in hand, over the precipice of infallible 
supremacy ; and the "Most Holy," and Spiritual Despot of the 
world, would seat himself in the temple of God, " slwwing him- 
self that he is God." 2 Thes. ii. 4. 

NE FIAT, DEUM DEPRECEMUR. 

- - - __ __ , . j 

* See '■' Downfall of Babylon," on Infallibility, Vol. I. No. 44 — 50.. 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

P. S. In order to distinguish the notes of my own introducing, 
from those of a respected friend who has lent me his assistance, 
I have distinguished them, at the end of each, with the syllable 
Ed. — For the accuracy of these, I hold myself responsible ; and 
my coadjutor, who writes the Appendix, will be responsible 
for his. 

We here subjoin an abstract of the thirty-two letters spoken 
of in the Narrative and Introduction. They have been transla- 
ted by a native of Spain, a gentleman of high respectability, and 
a master of the language. 

We present a fac-simile of one of them in its original dress,, 
with the signature of the Reverend writer. It is signed " Beso 
tus Pies" " I kiss thy feet." — This is a Priestly witticism. 
The Rev. Father's name is Pies : this signifies feet. From 
this circumstance, the playful and Reverend lover takes occasion 
to play upon the word ;. and, therefore, runs the amorous conclu- 
sion into his own name. 

In order that the public may have a further specimen of the 
playfulness of the Rev. Father's love, we present them also 
with fac-similes of three of the superscriptions of his letters, 
or, rather, to speak more properly, of his billets-doux, A part 
of two of them, however, owing to their shocking immodesty^ 
we are under the necessity of suppressing. 



22 INTRODUCTION. 



INTRODUCTORY TO THE LETTERS 

WRITTEN BY THE REV. FATHER PIES TO DIFFERENT FEMALES. 

In the following letters, we have a specimen of the moral de- 
pravity of the Romish Priesthood, drawn by their own pen. Can 
they now tell us, " it is a Protestant calumny ?" — A Holy Capu- 
chin Friar, a venerated Priest, in the full exercise of his Eccle- 
siastical functions, is the writer of them. Who, on reading these 
amorous and licentious effusions, would suppose that they were 
penned by a man sixty years of age ! — This, however, was the 
age of the venerated Priest who wrote them. How must not the 
fires of concupiscence have burned in his polluted heart in the 
vigor of youth, when the flames thereof still rage, with such un- 
governable fury, under the ashes of his declining years !— How 
many innocent victims must not have been sacrificed at his Sacred 
feet in the dark recesses of the Confessional, where all that tran- 
spires is closed, forever, under the Sacred Seal which binds the 
" Spiritual Father," and his fair penitent, to perpetual secrecy I* 

How passing strange, that mothers can be found so destitute 
of common prudence, so infatuated with delusion, as to expose 
their daughters to danger so imminent as that of being subjected 
to the vile solicitations of men burning with lust ! subjected to it, 
too, under circumstances so every how calculated to excite the 
most criminal of passions, screened from detection by the obli- 
gation of inviolable secrecy ! — And Americans, too, of whose 
conversion to Popery, we sometimes hear the tale, — Americans, 
and Popery ! — strange amalgamation ! even they are found, fas- 
cinated by the imposing outside show of the pretended only 
Cluirch of Christ. — They drink the draught of the intoxicating 
doctrine ; reason reels on her throne ; and, in the delirium of 
fanaticism, they throw themselves, their daughters, and their im- 
mortal souls, into the jaws of the ravenous " Dragon" — The re- 
flection harrows up every feeling of the soul. — We drop a tear 
as we record the fact ; and if tears would erase it, a flood of them 
would not be spared. — The evil spreads, like a flood, over our 
land ; and what will be the limits of its desolation, remains 
for posterity to tell. 

We diaw aside the Priestly mask, the Monkish hood, and, in 
the sequel, present the Reverend and Infallible Ones in their un- 
disguised deformity, as the best of antidotes for the evil which 
we deprecate. We show them as they are, and they show them- 

* See catechism of the council of trent, revised and corrected by John Hughes, 
Priest of St. John's church, Philadelphia, p. 195. 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

selves 5 and would that the picture could he spread on one wide 
canvass, that the world might see it. 

Some of the expressions of the Reverend letters are so ohscene 
that we are under the necessity of presenting them to the public 
under the original cloak of Spanish ; others are of a nature too 
foul to appear in any dress soever 5 — these, we entirely suppress. 
For the sake of those unacquainted with the Spanish, we have 
translated what we dare to present in that language, into Latin. 

I would observe, before closing these remarks, that these letters 
furnish us with further evidence of the truth and accuracy of the 
Narrative. The authoress has stated, (as will be seen in the 
perusal of her disclosures,) that the Rev. Father who wrote 
these letters was sixty years of age. The autograph of the let- 
ters is so evidently written by a hand tremulous with age, that 
they are almost illegible. So difficult was it to decipher the 
hand-writing, that several persons to whom I applied, and per- 
sons, too, well acquainted with the language, were unable to do 
it. Every one of them observed that " the letters must have 
been written with a trembling hand, or by a decrepit old man." — 
The Reverend lover, truly, as the letters show, and as the au- 
thoress has stated, must have been, at least, " sixty years of age." 

Seventeen, and some of the most important, disclosures in thi3 
Narrative, are confirmed by the Rev. Father Pies himself. Here, 
then, we have the very testimony of the party concerned^ to 
prove the truth and accuracy of the statements made by the au- 
thoress. 

They are as follows : 

1. Rosamond, in the Narrative, states, that the Rev. Father 
Pies belongs to the Order of the Capuchins : — The Rev. Father, 
in his letters, writes, " I have told you, my dear wife, that I live 
with the Capuchins." (Letter XV.) 

2. Rosamond tells us, that there are many rogues in Havanna : — 
" There are many rogues here," (in Havanna,) says the Rev. 
Father. (Letter II.) 

3. From Rosamond we learn that, in Havanna, to be pious, 
signifies to be wealthy: — "No one," (says Father Pies,) "would 
give a shilling for you if you are sick." (Letter III.) 

4. Rosamond tells us, that many of the Priests would emigrate 
to the Valley of the Mississippi, could they be assured of the 
means of gaining a living: — The Rev. Father, writing to his 
beloved, says, " If I had the means of gaining a livelihood," (in 
New-York,) " believe me, my dear, I would go and live with 
you." (Letter III.) 

5. Rosamond assures us that the licentious Priests are revered 
by all, so long as their faces are not disfigured by disease : — 
Father Pies, profligate as he was, was honored and caressed by 
the Prelacy ;-=— " I had the unspeakable pleasure," (says he,) "of 



124 INTRODUCTION. 

seeing your lovely, graceful, and rosy face, passing by, on my 
way to pay a visit to the Prior of St. Domingo Cathedral. To* 
:mo'rrow I am invited to the Archbishop's." (Letter IV. and II.) 
' 6. Rosamond speaks of their enormous beards, and tells us 
liow they contrived to conceal them : — The Holy Capuchin talks 
of his beard in the following strain ; — " You remember, I told 
you, once, that my beard would bother you a great deal ; and it 
has proved to be troublesome, since you always resisted my ap 
proaches." (Letter III.) 

7. Rosamond tells us it is a common thing for Priests to have 
their Mistresses: — The love-sick Father, addressing the wife of 
a Spanish nobleman, salutes her with the epithets, — " My dear 
-Margaret ! — My loving wife !" (Letter V.) 

S. Rosamond, speaking of the Priests, and those with whom 
they were enamoured, says, " they would be contemplating which 
was the youngest and the handsomest :" — The loving Priest ex- 
claims, almost in despondency, " I have been incessant in com- 
plimenting and contemplating you, and you have not shown any 
regard." (Letter V.) 

9. Rosamond, throughout her Narrative, speaks of the frequent 
assignations of the Reverend lovers : — " My own dear wife !" 
(exclaims the Rev. Father, under the vow of celibacy,) "and 
my most beautiful and desirable pink ! should nothing occur to 
you or to me, to-morrow, between 9 and 10, we shall meet." 
(Letter XVIII.) 

TO. Rosamond mentions that the Priests prefer the prettiest 
females : — " Let me know," (says the Rev. Father,) " whether 
you love me or not ; for if you don't, I must get another girl, even 
prettier, if possible, than yourself." (Letter XIV.) 

11. Rosamond speaks of the frequency of the Rev. Fathers' 
faces being "disfigured with disease:" — The Rev. Father 
seems bent on gratifying his passions, even although he should 
run the risk of ;; disease." (Letter XIV.) 

12. Rosamond relates that the Priests change their dress, that 
they may not be detected in their licentious conduct : — " I would 
not, for the world," (exclaims the Rev. Priest,) ''that any one 
should know what I am about." (Letter X.) 

13. Rosamond describes how addicted they are to cursing and 
swearing; and how they confirm it with the "hoorie:" — "I 
swore, and cursed that ", cries the Rev. Father. (Letter X.) 

14. Rosamond writes, at large, upon the subject of the Priestly 
Mistresses ; " believing that what she writes here, will also be 
written in heaven:" — u His mother is a kept Mistress of Friar 
Pedro Alcantara," writes the Rev. Father Pies. (Letter XV.) 

15. Rosamond describes the nicety of the Priests, when about 
to pay their addresses to the ladies ; and the use they make of 
perfumes and Cologne : — " Now, my dear wife !" (exclaims ths 



* 






S 



\ 












!> 



1 1 $ 









INTRODUCTION. 25 

^Reverend Celibate,) " since I am determined to come and see 
yon, I shall appear nice, shaved, and clean." (Letter XV.) 

16. Rosamond points out the presents of the Priests ; and tells 
<us something about the Nuns: — "Accept of these presents," 
*( writes the Reverend and generous lover,) "which I got ef 
my dearest NunsP {Letter XVIII.) 

17. Rosamond says that the Priests are possessed of a jealous 
•disposition: — The Rev. Father, after having tried every means 
to seduce the lady to whom he writes, "Regrets 3 to find that the 
torments of jealousy are also added to his accumulated disap- 
pointments," (Letter XIX.) 

<f Roma locuta est : cansa finlta est. 
Rome has spoken : the case is decided." 

The favorite axiom of Popery. 

On the following page, we present the fac-similes of the su- 
perscription of three of the Rev. Father Pies' letters. They mark 
the frivolity of his mind. 

On the next page is to be seen a fae-s'imile of one of his letters, 
the translation of which is given on the page immediately fol- 
lowing, marked, No. II. 

The following numbors exhibit an exact translation of some 
of the letters written by the Rev. Father Pies to different females. 
There are thirty-two of the original letters now in our hand. The 
following we deem will be a sufficient specimen to show the de- 
pravity of his Tieart. Some of the letters are so excessively ob- 
scene, that we are -under the necessity of suppressing them alto- 
gether. 

We present as much of them as we dare; and in presenting 
them, we have to beg the indulgence of the reader. The impor- 
tance of unfolding them before the world, in order to show the 
'deep depravity of the Romish Clergy, wiU s we hope, be a suffi- 
cient apology for what we dos 



SUPERSCRIPTION TO THE FOLLOWING LETTER. 

" To one whose beauty I adore, who am anxious to kiss those 
hands which I hope will soon be mine, since I am thine" 



LETTER II. 

A TRANSLATION OF THE FAC-SIMILE. — " SOPHIA." 

"My pretty girl! — My lovely dear! — Beauty of the world! — 
Your dear soul I did not s?e. But I threw into your window a 
3 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

billet-doux.-— Tell me if you got it.— Because in it many things 
are expressed : and I expected from your good, dear little heart, 
some consolation in answer thereto. May I yet live for you, since 
I already know you, and without you I cannot live !--To-day, I 
am engaged to pay a visit to your neighbour opposite. — Be on 
the look-out ;— and to-morrow, I am invited to the Archbishop's. 
But I assure you that the remembrance of you alone is my con* 
solation. — A-propos ! — tell me, for your own safety, whether you 
understand the coins of this country; lest you might be deceived 
or cheated by any one. — Be careful, my dear child, with whom 
you have any dealings : because there are many rogues here. 

(Signed,) 

"BESO TUS PIES, 
" I kiss your feet ; or, Place me at your feet." 



LETTER III. 

" My dear loving soul ! nothing serious has occurred. Some- 
thing was due to me, and you have paid me. — You, my dear love, 
were not in fault, because you evinced a readiness to resist. The 
fault was entirely mine ; for I had such a desire to be with you, 
that I lost all patience; and, (in the hurry,) I porque tenia tan- 
tas ganas tie estar con tigo que no pude esperar y manche tus 
carnecites tan bonitas y gorditas, (omnem pellem tuam delica- 
tarn formosissimamque; tamque venustam, atque voluptuosam, 
ego inquinavi.) 

Whenever you will, just tell me, my dear soul, as I hear you 
want to return to your native country ; and you leave me here 
alone. Yet I advise you, you would be doing well. They are 
ruining your health ; and mine, too, suffers ; and no one would 
give a shilling for you if you are sick. Indeed, if I had the means 
of gaining a livelihood, believe me, my dear, I would go and live 
with you. The folks here are great cheats. Again, I repeat, 
take care of your health ; for if you fall sick-a-bed, then will be- 
gin your great troubles ; and my cares will commence with them; 
as I cannot, by any means, allow you to perish without assist- 
ance. To Spain I could not take you, although I might wish to 
do it; nor am I going for five or six months yet: and even then, 
much depends on all the money that is due me. To go to Spain 
by the way of New York, would be attended with difficulties ; 
but, nevertheless, I will come and see you, and talk over the 
thing, and enjoy the pleasure of being with you. You remem- 
ber, I told you, once, that my beard would bother you a great deal; 
and it has proved to be troublesome, since you always resisted 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

my approaches whenever 1 attempted to kiss you. — Perhaps you 
did not love me : but whether you love me or not, you will al- 
ways remember me, wherever you may be, as he will remember 
you, who kisses your feet. 

"BESO TUS PIES." 



SUPERSCRIPTION TO THE FOLLOWING LETTER. 

" To my dear little pet." 

LETTEPv IV. 

"My dear beloved! — My adorable beauty! — O, I would kiss 
you to death if I could. My desire would be always to be gazing 
upon your beauty ; but, lovely as you are, my difficulties to your 
embraces daily increase. Yet probably, unknown to you, I had 
the unspeakable pleasure of seeing your lovely, graceful, and rosy 
face passing by, on my way to pay a visit to the Prior of St. 
Domingo Cathedral, and on my return from his house, I passed 
by yours, in hope of seeing you again, to have a little talk with 
you, and hand you that little paper, to remove from your mind 
any anxiety. I saw you, even then, but I kept aloof, because I 
perceived two persons standing opposite to your door; one I 
knew to be your servant in attendance, who, if he had seen me 
speak to you, would have reputed you as a woman of ill-fame, 
and would have said that you show me many attentions ; but if 
I show any to you, it is, my dear, because I am yours." 



LETTER V. 

"My dear Margaret! — My loving wife! — Yesterday, (Mon- 
day,) neither could I see you, nor hear from you; which leaves 
me very unhappy. For neither seeing you, nor hearing from 
you by note, does not suit me at all. — Surely, what affection does 
this show towards me? — Certainly, none at all. — And that I 
should continue to love one that does not love me, can never do. 
I have been incessant in complimenting, and cqnt emulating you, 
and you have not shown any regard. — Are we not in a fine coun- 
try, where every thing is abundant, but never mind ; — adieu, till 
to-morrow.— If you will, think about it." 



28 INTROIHJCTXOSro. 



LETTER VL 

\ a My dear life I — It is a common saying with those of our na- 
tion, that when one has agreed to perform any thing with another 
individual, and on the question being put, no answer is given f 
the inference is r that silence gives consent : or, in other words r 
that all is right, and we both agree in sentiment. Now, then r 
my dear I how comes rt, that so much as I hare said to you<, and 
written to you, you hare neither deigned to write me an answer^ 
or advance any thing satisfactory to me ? — From this I must infer,, 
that you have no intrinsic regard orw.ishlorthe person you thus- 
treat.— Perchance it may be your sickness occasions aM this : — 
yet I repeat, I am yours. 

"N. B. Believe me, that I fee! it most grievously, t<y be con- 
strained to speak to you so clearly, and pointedly £ but < it is be- 
cause I love you. — I love you extremely; and always shall 5, and 
I hope you consider me before any one else- 1 * 



LETTER VIL 

(This letter is of so indelicate a nature, that we hare to sup- 
press it. His deeply laid scheme required her utmost ingenuity 
to baffle itj in order to save her reputation.) 



SUPERSCRIPTION TO THE FOLLOWING LETTER. 

" Addressed to the most precious, lovely, and dearest girls,, 
my eyes ever beheld. 

" You, whose names I do not know, but am anxious to learn J* 

LETTER Vllk 

" My dear, loving sisters £— Lovely girls! — And pretty dears I 
— I have already informed you that I have been at the brink of 
the grave. No one would believe k, or would believe that I 
could recover; and I still remain very unwell and feeble, dis- 
tressed with intermittent fever ; so that I am now fit for nothing^ 
my dears. — My health still continues very much on the decline* 



s. ^ > 



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k&scz/&&^c? $&/ £< 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

and although you have invited me to your house, (a compliment 
more than I deserve,) yet I have not accepted your invitation. 
Only let me recover, and I will seek for you, without giving you 
further trouble." — (The letter continues in an amorous strain, and 
bids them " Adieu, for the present. 55 ) 



LETTER IX. 

" Delight of my eyes ! — Lovely beauty of the world ! — Thou 
queen of the fair ! 55 — (This letter continues with amorous expres- 
sions so profusely dealt out, that it absorbs the whole letter, and 
is unimportant, and he concludes by observing, that his religious 
duties prevent his seeing her whom he only lives to adore.) 



LETTER X. 

" My soul ! — My heaven thou art ! — Now, I must be very cau- 
tious when I am acting indiscreetly. I would not, for the world, 
that any one should know what I am about. Dona Andrea, 
who lives opposite to your dwelling, wishes you to pay her a 
visit. Her son, who spoke to me at the door, and whom you 
saw standing there, wanted, forcibly, to enter to see what I was 
about ; but I opposed this strenuously ; and, although you may 
have noticed^ in this dilemma, that I nodded to you, I am certain 
he did not notice me. I am, now, not suffering under any enfer- 
medad pagasosa mis carries limpias y blancas comoun marfil. 
(Nulla, lues, aut mala contagio me invasit: corpus meum purum 
est; marmoreoque nitore nunc splendet.) However, I am 
anxious to recover from my attack of the liver, which is the 
true illness that has brought me so near the gates of death; and 
under which I am still suffering. — To-day, my dear, you appear 
to be dissatisfied about something. — Adieu. 55 — 



LETTER XI. 

f The purport of this letter is, " that if she should continue 
sicK, she would know where to send her servant- girl to find hiim; 
namely, at the Convent of the Capuchins. 15 ) 
3* 



30 XNTROBtrCTIOKv 

; LETTER XII. 

( To tKe same^) 

(He writes her another letter; and states that he cannot see 
her that day, as "he has been commissioned to attend the prison 
chapel, to hear, as usual, the Confessions of the prisoners." — 
He concludes the letter in these words :) " Adieu I my heavenly- 
creature ! — Believe me, I remain in great anxiety concerning 
your health, — Tell me, beautiful . damsel ! what ails you. — Da 
tell me. — Don't deceive me. — I shall never abandon you. — I 
s *** r t0 Iqyq y 0Uy whether well or ill? 



LETTER XIIL 

( To the same.) 

" My beautiful and adored esposa! — My sweet little woman I 
To me you are the prettiest of your sex. — You cannot think, my 
dear, how I am disgusted with your neighbors opposite, who? 
are always gazing, and noticing every one that speaks to you, 
every one that looks at you, and every one that loves you ; and 
talking, and grumbling, at all they see ; which, to my disposition, 
is so disgusting, as I have a decided aversion that any one 
should see what I do. Nothing but those creatures over the 
way has prevented my coming oftener, as their curiosity is 
always alive when they see me. — Now, my dear, I have to 
request that you will correspond to my feelings, and I will reci- 
procate with yours. — I hail your recovery. — But take care that I 
don't fall sick, as we should lose all if you were to give me any 
contagion. As to me, you may examine mi cuerpo limpio y 
sin ninguna muncha sospechosa* — I shall, therefore, be really 
happy to find your dear self exempt from any thing, but all ast 
lovely as your face. 



LETTER XIV. 

• cc My loving dear ! — dearest- of my heart!-— you saw what an 
awful and stormy day yesterday (Friday) was ;— so unpleasant 
that I could not go out. — So that I have no pleasure of cay thing 
in this world, since I am deprived of the pleasure oi being with 
you. — Well, jiow, do tell me candidly, and don't let me suffer 

* Corpus meum perscruteris, si tibi placeat ; et nunquam investigando iliic inveniea 
naaeulam ullam quse tibi suspicionem rel inmimam excitet. 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

any longer. Let me know whether you love me or, not; for if 
you don't, I must get another girl, even prettier, if possible, than 
yourself, mas que no tonga las piemas tan gorditas comodas 
iuyas" (the preceding too shocking to be translated.). "But all 
this would give me much displeasure; and, besides, it is impor- 
tant forme to know in what relation we stand to each other ; for 
it seems strange, after so much, that you should still refuse my 
amours. — I often think you must be laboring under some conta- 
gious disease, that you would save me catching from you, and it 
is that which makes me anxious to learn the real fact ; for, 
surely, if you were hale and hearty, you would, before this, have 
evinced some desire to see me. — Well, now, to clear up the 
doubt, you have only one course to take ; and be aware> that in 
these hot climates, women easily get sick. 55 



LETTER XV. 

" I have told you, my dear wife, and my most beautifuf crea- 
ture, that I live with the Capuchins, but I do not take my meals 
with them. — I have my dinner brought to me at noon, every day,. 
Yesterday afternoon, I had some special visits to make, which 
kept me out till half past five. — I swore and cursed against that 
son of zputa, who seemed to stand in my way, on the opposite- 
side of the way, whom I did not like to trouble myself with, his 
mother being of a very turbulent character, and a kept-mistress 
of Friar Pedro Alcantara. Well, on account of these fellows, 
1 could not have the pleasure of being with. you. And, indeed, 
was it not that you had made up your mind to leave this soon, I 
would advise you to remove from where you are ; for I could not 
come and see you while those d***ls opposite are always gazing 
at us. — Now, my dear wife, since I am determined to come and 
see you, I shall appear nice, shaved, and clean ; so as not to be ajt 
all unpleasant to you. — But if I should then be disappointed, I 
shall despair, not knowing what to do, my beautiful creature. 53 



LETTER XVI. 

(It would appear that our worthy Capuchin, after-encountering 
so many obstacles, from the object of his unwarrantable love, 
begins to think that the low state of his funds, at that moment, 
might be considered as the obstacle to the fulfilment of his wish; 
but begs to remind his dear, that her pledges were more than 
mere words, and as an evidence of this, he would " refer her to 
the two notes that., had those figures on them, 55 — IJe alludes her,e 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

to the two letters, of the superscriptions of which we hare given 
the fac-similes. The figures they* had on them, of which men- 
tion is here made, we suppress, nor can we give the most distant 
allusion to what they were.) 



LETTER XVII. 

" My beautiful creature, and all that is lovely to me! — you 
cannot think what a desire I have to see you, and" (what flows 
out here, along a line or two, must be suppressed,) "I begin to 

despair, for I don't know . I have even shaved my beard 

to please you, that it might not incommode ; but that would not 
do. — And now that your stay here is so short, I don'fknow what 
to think." — (He continues by expatiating on his misery and dis- 
appointment; and concludes, by wishing rather that a dagger 
should be plunged into his breast, than suffer the imputation of 
the " enfermedad Galico") 



LETTER XVIII. 

t: My own dear wife ! — and my most beautiful and desirable 
pink ! — should nothing occur to you or me, to-morrow, between 9 
and .10, we shall meet. This is my particular wish ; I hope it 
is also yours. — I give you this notice that you may be prepared, 
and not be taken unawares by my visit. — I shall add nothing 
further in this note; but shall express myself more fully when I 
see you. — i^ccept of these presents, which I get from my dearest 
Nuns. — Do not forget that we are to meet to-morrow. — I will off 
with my beard, that your soft delicate face may not be incom- 
moded by its roughness." 



LETTER XIX. 

(In this letter, the Reverend lover soars into the highest 
ecstasies of amorous expressions towards "the object of all his 
cares and anxieties;" and he regrets to find, that "the tor- 
ments of jealousy are also added to his accumulated disappoint- 
ments.") 

From the above specimens, we see what Popish celibacy leads 
to. If we could have the letters of all the Priests thus unfolded, 
what a picture would be presented to the view ! 



INTRODUCTION. 33 



As corroborative of the licentious character of the Romish 
Priesthood, as depicted by the authoress of this Narrative, we 
will introduce the following communication, just put into our 
hands by the Rev. David Gillmer. The facts which he states, 
were related to him by his uncle, Joseph Ray, Esq., late Ameri- 
can Consul to the Brazils. 

He states as follows : — " It gives me pleasure to learn, that 
you are about publishing another work on the subject of Po- 
pery, in which the iniquity of the " Man of Sin," and par- 
ticularly the licentiousness of the Romish Priesthood, is to 
be exposed. I believe such a volume is much needed, in order 
that the citizens of our country may know to what lengths the 
Popish Clergy go in iniquity, where they have the reins of the- 
civil government under their eontrol. The licentiousness of the 
Priests in South America is almost unparalleled. Under the 
garb of sanctity, they practise the most enormous acts of wicked- 
ness. In a Conventj in the Brazils, for the purpose of entering 
into the apartment of the nuns, they have made a kind of 
'wheel,'* into which the Priest gets, and covers himself with a 
cloth, that he may not be seen ; the ' wheel' is then turned by 
one of the MonKs, (for each takes his turn.) and thus he is intro- 
duced into the Convent. The late American Consul to the 
Brazils, Joseph Ray, Esq., resided in South America about ten 
years : from him I have received these facts. He informed me, 
that there was an aged Monk, named 'Joachim, 5 in the Mon- 
astery of that place ; he wore a gown resembling; the cassock of 
the Episcopal Clergy ; the sleeves were very- Lbag£ andf the back 
and breast were made full. Every week he would eome to the 
counting-house for wine, with which Mr. Ray supplied him gra- 
tuitously.. The manner in which he carried it into the Monastery, 
may illustrate the hypocrisy and deception of the Monks. — He 
would puitthisee bottles into each sleeve, and two into his breast 
and back, and walk into the Convent with as great an air of 
sanctimony, as though he had been the greatest saint' on earth.. 
The common people held ' Father Joachim m great veneration, 
and considered him worthy of Canonization. The other Monks 
were as debauched and depraved a set of men as could be found. 
Dr. M , who is a native of South America, and born a Ro- 
man Catholic, but has embraced Deism, through the corruption 
of the Clergy, informed me, that the Bishops and Priests were 

* Mention is made of the "tt>foc/," and the wheel-turner, by the great St. Ligori 
See "Downfall op Babylon," Vol. 2d, No. XX. 



34 



INTRODUCTION. 



guilty of the blackest deeds of iniquity. They are infinitely 
worse,,as it respects licentiousness and crime, than any other class 
of men. These things ought to be known to every citizen of 
the United States. But it is said that ' the Priests in North 
America are moral men, that they are not guilty of open wick- 
edness, more than the Clergy of other denominations.' — This is 
denied. They are guilty of more crime than the Clergy of other 
denominations. And the reason why they are not detected more 
than they are, is owing to the fact that the Bishops conceal 
their crimes, 'because of the jealousy of Protestants ;' and be- 
cause they employ none in their service who are not Roman * 
Catholics. Instances are known where Priests have been de- 
tected, in North America, of crimes of an aggravated nature. 
But let Popery once be established in the United States, and we 
shall then see exhibited their crimes. They will have no re-' 
straint, and no motive to influence them to conceal their wicked- 
ness. Our country will be like South America and Spain. The 
crimes of Priests will then stalk forth as they do in Popish 
countries. 

" Romanism is the same the world over. This is acknowledged 
by Papists themselves. It is the same in America as it is in 
Rome. And were it the established religion of this country, the 
very same enormities would be committed, and the deep de- 
pravity which is manifested in civil governments, where the 
Pope exercises authority, would be committed and manifested in 
the United States of America. 

DAVID GILLMER" 



CERTIFICATES 

RESPECTING THE CHARACTER OF THE AUTHORESS. 

This certifies, that Rosamond Culbertson is a member of the Third 
Free Presbyterian Church in this city, in good and regular standing ; 
that she possesses the confidence of her brethren and sisters in this 
church, and is cheerfully commended to the confidence of the Christian 
public in general. 

By order of the Session, 

N. E. JOHNSON, Mod, 
New York, 16th Dec. 1835. 

I have been acquainted with Rosamond Culbertson about two years ; 
almost from the commencement of her religious experience. I have 
the fullest confidence in her integrity and Christian character; and 
knowing, also, the circumstances under which the accompanying Nar- 
rative has been written, (the writer herself being brought several times 
to the brink of the grave,) I can cheerfully commend her statements to 
the public, believing that they contain nothing but the truth. 

ISAAC N. SPRAGUE, 
Pastor of the Fourth Free Pres. Church, N. Y. 

New York, Dec. 15, 1835. 

I have been acquainted with Rosamond Culbertson for six months 
past; during which time I have been her physician. I believe her to 
oe a devoted Christian. I think there can be no question as to the 
truth of the Narration she has written. 

In December, 1835, she was very sick, and not expected to live from 
one hour to another : in fact, for several hours, she was speechless ; and 
I could but just discern that she breathed. When she revived, so as to 
speak, I asked her if what she had written in her Narrative was true: 
she replied, " Yes, — the truth, and nothing but the truth." 

J. A. WARD, M. D. 

241 Spring St., N. Y. 
New York, Dec. 18, 1835. 

Dear Sir— Rosamond Culbertson united with the Third Free Church 
of this City, on the 20th of June, 1834. Since that time, her walk and 
conversation, as far as I know, or can learn, has been very exemplary, 
and worthy of her high vocation. I have seen her more or less fre- 
quently since she united with the church, both in seasons of health and 
sickness. At all times she has seemed to maintain the same unshaken 
confidence in the Saviour, and the same determination to live, as far as 
her influence might extend, for the promotion of truth and righteousness 
in the earth. In my opinion, the most implicit confidence may be placed 
in her character for veracity ana" truth. 

J. F. ROBINSON, Clerk of the Session 
of the Third Free Church. 
Rev. Mr. Smith. 

New York, Jan. 7, 1836. 



36 CERTIFICATES. 

Auburn, January 2, 1836. 
To J. F. Robinson, Esq. 

Dear Sir,— You will not be surprised, that I take a deep interest in 
ihe forth coming work of Mrs. Culbertson, when you learn that it was 
undertaken at my particular suggestion. She had given many facts, 
relative to her past life, in conversations held at different times, with 
my wife. These were reported to me, and so deeply impressed my 
mind, that I communicated a wish to have them committed to paper, 
fully impressed with the conviction, that the time was not far distant 
when the public good would be promoted by having them published. 
The papers were accordingly prepared, and committed to the care of 
my wife. We read them with interest, and were astonished and afflicted 
at the "mystery of iniquity" which they revealed. : SeveFal months 
elapsed, before my mind became settled as to the course which duty 
dictated in the case. At length I concluded to publish the Narrative, 
in successive numbers, in a newspaper, edited by the Rev. Mr. Smith, 
and entitled lt The Downfall of Babylon." But before arrangements 
for presenting them to the public, through this medium, were completed, 
the design of publishing them in the form of a neat little volume, sug- 
gested itself to my mind. Accordingly the subject was proposed to the 
Rev. Mr. Smith, and also to H. D. Ward, Esq. To the latter gentle- 
man the papers were committed for his perusal, and with a view to their 
he'mg prepared for the press. After this I saw them no more. But I 
am happy to learn through your letter to me, that the work is soon to 
be presented to the public. 

My sole desire, next to the public good, in wishing this Narrative to 
take the volume course to the eye of the community, was, that the un- 
happy, and yet happy, because, in my judgment, redeemed Rosamond, 
might derive from it something to support her in the midst of those infir- 
mities, which, though self-induced, yet because penitently wept over, 
have awakened our tenderest s} r mpathy. I hope, Dear Sir, that as pro- 
fessed Christians have had the charge of this matter, the individual 
most deeply interested, will, under no pretence of the claims of services 
rendered, or charity, be deprived of the entire avails of the book, after 
reasonable and even liberal charges are paid. 

It is true, that, so far as my own impressions of facts, in regard to the 
subject of this Narrative, are concerned, there was little that I had not 
long before fully believed to be true. Indeed, such are the views given 
by writers in her own communion, of the abominations of the Romish 
church, that those who do not see and acknowledge them, must blush 
to complain against the charge of voluntary blindness. The circum- 
stance of the authoress living amongst us enhances the subject of her 
own story, the more so as she has experienced in her own person, and 
seen with her own eyes, the enormities and abomination of which she 
speaks. She names persons — gives dates and localities — speaks of cir- 
cumstances and events of public notoriety, and all in a way of such 
honest and undisguised simplicity, as to force conviction upon the mind 
of the reader, all but in despite of the strongest prejudice. 

D. C. LANSING, 
Pastor of the Presbyterian Church. 



CONTENTS. 



SsraODtrcTfSN, m which the system of Popery and the Christian religion are com- 
pared.— An account of the Authoress, and of her seduction by Rev. Father Canto. 
--The influx of Popery from Europe.— Influence of Protestants in regard to the 
increase of Popery.— Character of tire Authoress,— Her delicate health.— Her tes- 
timony confirmed by Doctor Ethan A. Ward ; by thirty-two letters in Spanish, 
written by Rev. Father Pies ; by four wounds on her own body > by the Editor 
himself in regard to the Purgatory -room ; and by their own Councils, Popes, Saints, 
and historians themselves.— The truth of her disclosures sealed by the attestation 
of the Authoress when apparently at the point of death. — The Infallible church 
vanishes away in a lie. — The effects of Popery.— The Confessional a sink of mi- 
quity. — Popery the scourge of the world.— Every patriot, philanthropist, and 
Christian, bound to oppose it.— Jews, infidels, and savages, are all interested in the 
result, whether Popery shall rise or fall, - 3 

Introduction to tee Letters, written in Spanish, by Rev. Father Pies, to different 
females, ...„ 22 

Translation of facts of the thirty-two letters, written by Father Pies. - • 25 
Popery in the Brazils. . ^ ..... 33 

Certificates of the Authoress's character. -.-.».- -35 

"Chapter i.— The author's introduction. — A brief sketch of her family. — Her marriage 
with Lieutenant C — —.—Her departure from home with her husband.— They pro* 
ceed to the West. — Her husband dies in New Orleans. — Goes to Covington to es- 
cape the yellow-fever. — Becomes acquainted with Mr. M . — Marries Mr. 

W , of Kentucky.— Removes to Louisville.— Flies from Mr, W . — Is set on 

shore on the west bank of the Mississippi.— Is delivered from her forlorn situation 
by the captain of a steam-boat, on his way to Nashville. — Attempts to commit sui- 
cide. — Returns to New Orleans. » "• 41 

'Chapter If. — The origin of Popish Celibacy.— Its immediate and pernicious effects. — 
Pope Gregory Vll., who was promoted to the Popedom, A. 1). 1074, enacts severe 
laws to restrain the profligacy of the Clergy. — The effects of his severity. — Coun- 
cils convened ibr the same purpose.— Character of the Popish Clergy previous to 
the Re formation. —The Prelates of the General Councils of Lyons, Constance, and 
Basil, as criminal as the Clergy whom they pretend they wish to reform. — Charac- 
ter of the Popish Clergy since the Reformation. "-54 

Chapter III— Voyage to Ilavanna,— Engages with Father Manuel Canto, a Romish 
Priest. — Learns the Champara Spanish. — Has the Stranger's Fever. — Attempt to 
make her a Reman Catholic— Manuel's habits of Gambling,— The dress of the 
Priests.— Second attack of the Fever, and attempt to make her a Roman Catholic. — 
Dress of the Capuchins. — Reasons with the Priest on their wicked course of life. — 
On their power to forgive sins.— The Confession of Criminals who had committed 
robbery, in order to get money to fee the Priests for saying Masses to save their 
souls. — Manuel's Supper Parties, and Friends, at Rosamond's House. — The Priests 
«cl>l different sorts ofCandles for various Superstitious Purposes. ... 67 

Chapter IV.— Rosamond attacked in her house by robbers. — Wounded and supposed 
to be dead.— One robber killed.— Another taken.— His punishment. — Loses her 
senses under the shock from Manuel's entering her room. — She recovers, and re- 
moves to another house.— Leanns who sent the robbers to her house. — Altars of 
private devotion to the Saints. ....... . - . 78 

4 



38 . CONTENTS. 

Chapter V. — Masquerades. — The habit of attending.— The wealth of the people of 
Havanna. — Their silent stab.— Their stilling hiss.— Their calling hiss.— The mock- 
ery of the Priests in Masks. — Manuel's remark on his habit. — His urging Rosamond 
to pray to the Virgin for good luck. — Their universal superstition. 86 

Chapter VI. — Geographical description of Cuba.— Animals. — Soil. — Vegetable Pro- 
ductions. — Minerals. — The Spaniards exterminate the Aborigines of the Island. — 
The Chieftain put to death for refusing to be baptized. — Corrupt morals of the 
people.— Ignorance of the Clergy. — Cock-fights.— Bull- baits. —Gambling. — Murders 
frequent. — Description of Havanna. — Religion a mere show. — The shrine of Co- 
lumbus. .---,. 91 

Chapter VII.— Manuel is sent to Puerto Principe.— Is accompanied by Rosamond, 
and his Alcowater, a pimp. — Alcowaters kept in all the Convents. — The poor burn 
pitch-pine to the Virgin Mary, instead of Candles. — Manuel becomes jealous of the 
Alcowater. — Manuel's tricks with Rosamond. — Manuel seduces the daughter of his 
host. — The Priests' oath or Hoorie. — Mode of doing penance. — The paying of mon- 
ey for the forgiving of sins. — Manuel sends Rosamond back to Havanna, who being 
chased by Pirates, has to put in at Matanzas. 97 

Chapter VIII. — On her voyage fiom Puerto Principe, is chased by Pirates. — Takes 
refuge in Matanzas. — Receives a letter from Manuel, desiring her to come to Ha- 
vanna. — Her mental sufferings. — Is threatened with death, if she refuse to go to 
Havanna. — Leaves Matanzas and arrives in Havanna. — Is taken sick, anointed, and 
baptized for death. — Description of the ceremony of her baptism. — Becomes de- 
ranged. — The Priests are in dread of her. — The people pity and deplore her lost 
condition. Ill 

Chapter IX. — Rosamond disguised as a Priest, by Father R . — Pays a visit to 

Father Canto, in St. Francisco Convent. — Her surprise at the thought of being con- 
fined there. — Manuel receives her gladly, and desires to know all her history, and 
her religion, and her mind. — Sire opens her mind freely. — His confessions. — His 
contrition. — His advice to her to become a Nun in St." Claro Convent. — Manuel 
about to prepare to go on penance. — After three days, Rosamond returns from the 

Convent, in charge of the same Father R .—Tells her Godmother where she 

had been. — Her horror at this unpardonable sin. — Rosamond attempts to escape 
from Cuba. — Prays to the Virgin Mary. 117 

Chapter X. — Attempts to escape from Cuba. — Was deterted by Manuel, who threat- 
ens to have her confined. — Burning Holy Candles to the Virgin, and the Saints. — 
The pay of the Priests for laying evil spirits, and sprinkling Holy Water. — The cer- 
emony of laying out and burying the dead. — Burning their bones. — Procession 
against the cholera.— Fly to the Convents as, a refuge from the cholera. — The 
Priests entice two hundred females into the Convents. — No escape from the Con- 
vents. — The conduct of the Priests too indelicate, to be told. — The amours of the 
Right Rev. Bishop, who was near 100 years of age. — The lamentations of the females 
at the death of the Bishop. 126 

Chapter XI. — Description of the dress and amusements of the inhabitants of Cuba. — 
Their mode of sanctifying the Sabbath. — Frequency of Assassinations. — Slothful 
habits of the natives of Cuba. 137 

Chapter XII. — Manuel's confidential communications to Rosamond. — Penance in the 
Tault; in an iron coffin. — Fasting on bread and water. — Penance in the Purgatory- 
room. — The penances end with presents to the Priests. — How the Priests put 
young females on penance too shameful to be told. — Some of the licentious Priests 
sent to the Mississippi to propagate their faith. 112 

Chapter XIII. — Father Hosa's execrable conversation with Manuel respecting the 
Nuns. — Lived some years in concubinage with a Quadroon girl.— His barbarity to 
wards her. — He interrogates Rosamond respecting the beauty*, <kc. of the females of 
the Mississippi valley. — His and Manuel's desire to have all the Protestant ministers 
in Moro-castle. — An American imprisoned in Moro-castle 40 years. — Description of 
Moro-castle.— Priestcraft.— The Priests refuse to intercede with the Virgin wUhont 



CONTENTS. 



39 



money. — Superstition in regard to dreams. — In default of money for Masses, jew- 
elry is taken.— The laying of souls.— Priestly exactions and impositions.— The 
Cassa, or house of the Virgin Mary.— The room in which were the devil and other 
horrible images.— The people's superstitious fear of the Priests. — Mode of per- 
forming penance.— Jealousy among^ the Priests.— deduction of a young girl.— All 
compelled to kneel while the Host or consecrated Wafer passes.— The common 
people kiss the Priests' feet. 149 

Chapter XIV.— Father Manuel Antonia and his Mistress.— His love-letters.— Prize 
in the lottery consecrated by the Priest to the Virgin Mary.— Lottery prizes are 
the gifts of the Saints in Heaven.— The Virgin Mary will not hear the prayer of 
Protestants.— Rosamond in deep despondency.— Intrigue of Father Panterilla to 
obtain the property of his Mistress.— Suspicions against Panterilla relative to the 
sudden death of a certain wealthy foreigner, who died on Panterilla's plantation. — . 
In consequence of which Panterilla is banished to New York, where he continued 
to exercise his Priestly functions.— Is eventually recalled to Havanna, and resumes 
his functions.— While in New York, prevails upon two young ladies to accompany 
him back to Havanna.— Mode of living in the Convents.— The Priests disguise them- 
selves in citizens' dresses. — The Priests use no perfumery in their Sacerdotal 
habits, but use it profusely in their dress of citizen. — The Priests' hoorie, or oath. 
—Manuel's amorous playfulness.— The Priests' shaven heads a shield against rob- 
bery.— Priestly pastime. — From carousing they go to Confession, and to the cele- 
bration of Mass, or to visit the sick, or bury the dead. 159 

Chapter XV.— Father Pies, and his Mistresses, and his lap-dog.— Seduces the wife 
of a wealthy citizen, and is betrayed by the barking of his lap-dog. — The husband 
rushes in upon them, and biles his wife's nose nearly off. — Father Pies' amorous 
and wicked letters now in the hands of the Authoress of this Narrative.— He was 
the Confessor of the public criminals.— A wealthy lady imprisoned under a false 
pretext in order to get her money. — What the diabolical pretext was. - - 170 

Chapter XVI. — Some description of Havanna. — The Priests afraid to trust their ser- 
vants in marketing. — The people drink wine out of their Priests' mouths. — They 
think the food from his hands, is blessed. — The Priests become acquainted with 
domestic concerns through Confession. — It is the custom for man and wife, to have 
their domestic disputes in the presence of their relations. — To have Mass said^ 
is the way to settle disputes.— The Priests sell blessed Candles to perform conjur- 
ation or witchcraft. — Superstitious fear of the Priests. 176 

Chapter XVII. — Scheme of a Priest to get possession of the estate of Poncheetee, 
one of their female devotees. — Her private chapel. — Mode of penance. — Becomes 
a mere skeleton. — Counting of the beads in the street. — She commits the unpar- 
donable si-n in judging the "Holy Priest ; for which she i.i enjoined a severe pen- 
ance. 182 

Chapter XVHL— The execution of culprits for the killing of negroes, and making 
sausages of their bodies.— By bribing the Priests, some of fhem are reprieved. — 
People rendered crazy by the malediction of the Priests. — The wealth of the 
Priests in proportion to their wickedness. The wickedness she witnesses, too 
horrible to be described. — The Virgin can pardon all sins. — Avarice of the 
Priests. — When the Priests fall in love with a female, they induce her to enter 
into a Convent. — Priestly stratagems for seduction. — Females secretly armed with 
the Spanish knife. — Priestly abominations too shocking and immodest to be re- 
lated. 188 

Chapter XIX —The "Groting," or public execution of a lady twenty-one years of 
age. — The Priests get her money— The burning of red candles on her husband's 
head. — The relation of her extraordinary case. — She kills her husband, cuts up his 
body, and packs it in a barrel.— Is betrayed by her godmother. — A Priest attends 
at her execution: his singular costume. — The Priest terrified by a black cat. 197 

Chapter XX. — Manner of the Priests' begging for the Convents. — Money stolen to 
pay for Masses. — The Priest gives his Mistress the money, which had been stolen 
to pay for a Miss, — Jealousy about the fees for Confession.— Various benedictions 



40 CONTENTS. 

and their prices. — Funeral, and other prayers, with their prices.— The Priests 
money is considered blessed. — Sin to pay money without Crossing one's self. — 
Every action to be consecrated by Crossing one's self. — The Priests change their 
dress to gallant the females. — Two of the Priests sent as criminals to Spain. — The 
sudden and suspicious death of the Bishop. - - - - - - • 202 

Chapter XXI. — The Priest in disguise. — The Convents a harbor for robbers ami 
murderers.— The criminal refugees in the Convents cannot be apprehended by the 
officers of the civil law. — By day, the criminals lie concealed in the Convents, and 
by night, prowl the streets. — The Priests are well paid for screening criminals in 
the Convents.— The Priests rob one another even when dying. — An account of a 
Priest and his cliestof Money. — Suspicious exit of inmates of the Convents. — Bob- 
bing a Priest synonymous with rooting the Church. — The Priests, w r hen superan- 
nuated by vice and dissipation, are employed in the Convents as domestics. — T& 
be good, in Spanish Popery, signifies to be wealthy. — The effects of Priestly vice 
conspicuous in the disfiguration of their faces.— Priest testifies against Priest, tha4 
he is possessed of the devil. — Priest turned fortune-teller; he makes the people 
kiss his frogs, scorpions, and devils. — The Bouquet or picture to frighten profligate 
Priests into virtuous ones. — The awful impressions made by seeing the Bouquet, 
made instrumental in determining Bosamond to escape from Cuba. - - 201* 

Chapter XXII. — Manuel's evening ride with Bosamond.— Extraordinary occurrence 
at supper-table. — Its effects on Manuel. — The king of Spain abrogates the custom 
of criminals finding refuge in Churches and Convents. — The Priests act the part of 
Inquisitors: gamble and fight. — Criminal Priests confined in the "Expulsion. 
Room :" — their grief for the loss of their fees. — Sin is no sin, if committed trusting 
to the Virgin Mary. — Two dollars for robbing or murdering. — Money and the 
Priests are the gods of the people. — Escapes from Havanna, and arrives in New 
York. 218- 

Chapter XXin. — Manner of laying out the dead. — The American and Popish grave- 
yards.— Death of Mary Stewart.— The Priests get her money. — Rosamond escapes 
from Cuba, and arrives in New York. ..»•••••■■■••'. 225 

APPENDIX, 
Chapter 1.— Romish Priests^ ..•..•••..234 

Chapter II.— Where is the Church? ..-•••... 23& 
Chapter III.— The Virgin Mary. .••••••••• 213. 

Chapter IV.— Purgatory. ........... 24& 

Chapter V.— Roman Pride, Tradition, Confession. ••-••• 255 

Chapter VI— Superstition, •••-•264 

Chapter VH— The Apostacy.— Images. • ••■•••• 275 



NARRATIVE. 



CHAPTER I. 

" So live, that when thy summons comes, to join 
The innumerable caravan that moves 
To that mvsterious realm, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon ; but, sustained and sooth'd 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

BUYANT. 

The author's introduction. — A brief sketch of her family. — Her marriage 

with Lieutenant C . — Her departure from home ivith her husband. — 

They proceed to the West. — Her husband dies in New Orleans. — Goes 
to Covington to escape the yellow-fever. — Becomes acquainted with Mr. 

M- . — Marries Mr. W- , of Kentucky. — Removes to Louisville. — 

Flies from Mr. W- . — Is set on shore on the west bank of the Mis- 
sissippi. — Is delivered from her forlorn situation by the captain of a 
steam-boat, on his way to Nashville. — Attempts to commit suicide. — Re- 
urns to New Orleans. 

I have had a great desire, for some time past, to let the 
world know of a poor wanderer, who. has been living in 
the southern countries for the last fifteen years, in Missis- 
sippi, Missouri, New Orleans, and Kentucky ; and for the 
five years from 1828 to 1833, on the Island of Cuba. 
On the 28th of July, 1833, through the mercies of the 
Lord, I was brought again to this Christian country ; and 
when 1 look back on the last fourteen years, and on how 
many thousands and thousands of individuals I have 
seen, who are led and kept in darkness, as to seeking the 
salvation of their poor immortal souls, by the Roman 
Catholic Priest^, my heart aches within ; and I feel it my 
duty to let the world know what I know about them. 

! I pray that I ma^not dictate my pen ! — that I may 
be guided in all 1 write by the help of the Lord; believing 
what I write here, will also be written, in heaven! 

1 was born in Lebanon, in the state of New Hampshire, 



42 FIVE YEARS* RESIDENCE 

in the year 1803. My father removed to Charlestown, oil 
Connecticut river, earlier in life than I can recollect. 

I am at a loss how to bring my past life to view. Since 
I was eight years old, I have been, as I may term it, a 
wandering traveler. My father was a farmer in good 
circumstances. My parents were good and kind to all 
Iheir children, who were eight in number, six sisters and 
two brothers. We were all brought up with as good 
opportunities for education as that country afforded. 

Being a troublesome child at home, I was sent to live 
with my eldest sister at Concord, Vermont.- I continued 
to be so mischievous and froward, that my sister was glad 
to get rid of me, and I was sent about T first to one, and 
then to another of the family, still remaining headstrong 
and unmindful of advice. My attention was fixed more 
upon dress and amusements-,- than it was either upon 
work or upon my book. 

Some time after this I was sent with my youngest sis- 
ter, to a school at Windsor, Vermont. We were placed 

tinder the care of a family by the name of I. P . They 

kept a boarding-house for married and single ladies, and 
gentlemen. At this house there were several officers of 
the United States r army, who were recruiting, or enlisting 
soldiers for the public service. My affections here were 
soon won by an officer who was boarding in the same 
house with us. He was a lieutenant, and being a gay and- 
fashionable person, he soon gained my affections. His 
attentions to me were noticed by the family, whose pro- 
tection I was under. Mrs. F would sometimes tell 

me it was not prudent to be so intimate with him, and 
that she knew my mother would not approve of it. This, 
however, only seemed to increase my affections. 

Some time after this I returned home to my parents in 
Charlestown. Lieut. C soon followed me, and al- 
though my father and mother were entirely opposed to 
his visiting me, he succeeded in introducing himself into 
the house. My father was an old revolutionary soldier, 

and was fond of talking about war affairs. Lieut. C 

fead been in the battle of Bridgewater. and was wounded 



l.j MARRIAGE WITH LIEUT. C, 40 

there. This was a good deal in his favor in respect to my 
father, who now seemed to take a delight in conversing 
with him. 

, The next day Lieut. C wrote a letter to my father? 

asking his consent for our marriage, but he remained as 
much opposed to it as ever. 

During Lieut. p- 's stay at this place, which was 

but a tew days, as he was going to be stationed at Boston^ 
he wrote me several letters full of professions of his love. 
I answered his letters, and consented to marry him. All 
this was done without the knowledge or consent of my 
parents. 

We then took a private opportunity of passing over into 
the state of Vermont, just on the opposite side of the Con- 
necticut river ; this was in the month of December 1818 f 
and were married by Squire M — — . 

Lieut. C 's time being now expired, he had to pro- 
ceed on to Boston. We sat out together, and I left home 
without bidding my dear parents farewell, because they 
would not be reconciled to us, or forgive us. 

O ! how well do I remember what were my feelings at 
that time ! I knew that I had done wrong, and had left a 
poor heart-broken mother, with one brother and sister ? 
who were all of the family that was with her at that 
time. 

We boarded, while in Boston, at a Mrs. Lincoln's, in 
Hanover Street, where a number of officers and their 
families were also staying. We remained here six weeks r 
and then he received orders for Albany, where he was 
stationed at Greenbush. From this place he was ordered 
to Detroit, Michigan territory, and then to Greenbay. 
From Greenbay he was sent to New York, where he was 
stationed for a short time on Ellis' Island. 

While we were in New York, I remained in Dr. 7 s 

family, in James Street. It was at this time that the large 
whale was to be seen at Brooklyn. I think it was in the 
year 1819. 

Before my husband left New York,, he was promoted 
to be Captain, and had the command of a Gompany, 



44 THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. [Chap, 

From this place we went to Pittsburgh, and, descending 
the Mississippi river, arrived at Baton-rouge, where Cap 
tain C- was stationed. 

After we were settled, I wrote to my dear friends. It 
was then one year since they had heard from me, and I 
was upwards of a thousand miles from them. In three 
months I received an answer from them, saying they had 
forgiven me, and had buried me, or that they would feel 
more happy if I were dead, and buried in a grave in my 
own country. 

I lived with my husband between four and five years, 
and we had three children, but none are living. He was 
always a kind and affectionate husband to me. ' 

From Baton-Rouge he was ordered to Black-Rock T 
which is situated in the interior of Arkansas Territory, 
and which is inhabited principally by Indians. Soon after 
this, we went to New Orleans, and there happened my 
death-blow. My husband caught the yellow-fever and 
died, being sick only twelve hours. 

This, I think, was in the summer of the year 1822. 
I was left in a strange country, without friends, and 
with very little to live upon ; and where they mourn but 
little, when they lose any of their friends, being princi- 
pally Catholics, who think it a sin to mourn. Here I 
wrote t9 my parents of the death of. my husband, and 
that I should come to them as soon as I could get a con- 
veyance ; and that I should probably leave the country 
before I could receive an answer from them. This was 
in August, and the yehow fever was raging, and every 
person leaving- the city, who had the means to do it, 
going to different places. I was then boarding in a 
French family, who could speak no English ; and was 
advised by some friends to leave town. 

I left this place with some others, with whom I had a 
slight acquaintance, and went to Covington, across the 
Lake Ponchartrain. Here I remained but a few weeks, 
during which time the fever abated. While I was at this 
place, I became acquainted with a gentleman from New 
Orleans, who treated me with kindness and politeness.. 



I.] HER RESIDENCE IN NEW ORLEANS. 45 

He was a wealthy and respectable merchant of the name 

of M. M , formerly of Baltimore. While he showed 

polite attention to me there, I had not the least idea he 
had any bad or evil motives. How easily innocence can be 
deceived ! After my return to New Orleans, I remained 
in a French family, and was making inquiries for a pas- 
sage to Boston, but there was no vessel going at that time, 
for the fever had not long abated, and commercial inter- 
course was not yet restored. It is customary, after being 
absent from the city, for your acquaintances to make calls, 

when you return ; and M. M called on me. He had 

a slight acquaintance with the family where I resided. 
The French manners are very free. He made calls after 
calls, at the time the money I had was nearly gone, ex- 
penses being very high in that place. He, of course, 
knew my circumstances were low, as to money ; and 
knew how to treat me and to train me to his wishes. 

In the winter, the masquerades came on ; and, as I 
mentioned how little they mourn for their friends, I was 
not long before I forgot the death and loss of my hus- 
band ; and, being left in a strange country without friends, 
or wherewith to help myself, I soon forgot my troubles, 
and consented to go to the masquerades, balls, and thea- 
tres, gallanted by M. M . These are places where 

all go : married and single, virtuous and others : all mix 
together. One imprudent step after another, with my 

money all gone, and M. M lavishing presents upon 

me, step by step, I consented to become mistress of his 
house without the rites of matrimony. He furnished me 
a house, and bought me a servant girl. By this time I 
had almost forgotten the death of my husband, and my 
dear father and mother, brothers and sisters : all my fine 
feelings were banished, and new ones commenced. I am 
sure I did not realize the loss of my character, as I should 
have done, if I had been in some other place ; for it 
makes but very little difference among the French of 
New Orleans whether you are living with a gentleman 
married, or not, if you are living in good style. 

Shortly after this, I received a letter from my parents^ 



46 HER MARRIAGE WITH MR. W . [Chap. 

begging me to come home without delay, and stating 
that my father had been to Boston, and made arrange- 
ments with the captain of a ship to bring me ■ and if ] 
wanted money he would remit it to me. At this time 
my circumstances were such I tjould not go^ it was now 
too late. When the captain called at my house, I told 

him I was married to M. M , and could not go till 

another year. This he believed, as that country is very 
different from this. They do not take much pains to 
learn each other's character. I wrote to my friends by 
him, telling them I was married, and could not go for 
another year. 

At that time I was twenty-one years of age. M. M 

always treated me kindly, and indulged me in every 
thing. He was wealthy, and in extensive mercantile 
business. With him I lived three years, wanting for 
nothing. In this time he had given me four servants, 
and I had some money in the bank. I had almost for- 
gotten that I had any parents, or any friends grieving 
and mourning after me. I had become perfectly recon- 
ciled to my situation, being always indulged in going to 
parties, masquerades, balls, and theatres ; and every sum- 
mer, during the sickly time, leaving the city for different 
places. I received another letter from my dear mother, 
informing me that all the family were pleading with me 
to return home. I answered her letter,, and told her I 
would return next year. 

By this time I became acquainted with a gentleman 
from Kentucky, who had received an education for a 
lawyer. He was of one of the first families in that state, 

by name W . I became acquainted with him at the 

masquerades ; and meeting together at different places of 
amusement, he, at length, made me an offer of marriage, 
to which I immediately consented, for the sake of chang- 
ing my life to a respectable one, knowing that he was of 
a good family, and that I should not go to his friends 
poor ; for, at that time, I had in the bank three thousand 
dollars, besides four slaves and my furniture. I had ao 
reason to grieve for leaving M. M— ^— because I knew 



1.J ARRIVES IN KENTUCKY. 47 

he never would marry me; and I wished to recover my 
lost reputation. When he knew I was going to marry 

Mr. W , he had no wish to take any thing that he 

had given me ; but gave all that I had up to me. Soon 
after I was married to Mr. W , we went on to Louis- 
ville, in Kentucky, where his friends lived. 

When we arrived in Kentucky, we were not received 
by Mr. W 's friends. A certain friend of his, who ad- 
vised and helped me to marry him, and who was with us 
at the time, wrote to his friends, that their son had mar- 
ried a person of a bad character ; and the letter arrived 
a few days before us. Here I was again in a strange 
country, with money, but without character. O, what 
wretched feelings I had ! We boarded at the principal ho- 
tel in the place. Mr. W had no money, and it was 

natural that he should flourish away on mine, as fast as 
possible. The eyes of every individual were on me, as I 
thought, to see if they could find any thing wrong in my 

conduct. Mr. W knew I was dejected, and felt lost 

to the world ; and instead of trying to get into some busi- 
ness with what money I had, he was for dashing, sport- 
ing, and drinking. At length, he could give me a plea- 
sant word, only when he came to ask for money. 

AIL this time I kept within, and began seriously to think 
of my situation, and dear parents, brothers, and sisters ; 
and most of all, that my character was gone. I felt lost 

to every thing. My money going, and Mr. W 's cruel 

treatment, laid me on a sick bed, with no one to comfort 
or sympathize with me. They did not refuse to take us 
in to board, even in the first houses, for they knew we 
were married, and had money. Often did I reflect, when 
1 was there, and all alone, " What have I done, that I 
should be so lost to all the world ! — no kind friend to speak 
to, and a cruel husband to add to my sorrow." 

When I recovered from my sickness, my money was 
almost all spent. Then I began to think on my distressed 
situation ; — all my hopes blasted of ever Mr. W 's pro- 
viding a living for me ; and my character gone : — for 
Kentucky, in this respect, is very different from New Or- 



48 DEPARTURE FOR STEW ORLEANS. [Chap* 

leans. Mr, W— had become very dissipated, and 
knowing that he had spent almost all my money, trouble 
on every side now stared me in the face. When my mo- 
ney was all gone, we had no other resource for paying 
our board, but selling some jewelry, which lasted but a 
little while, and then all was gone — friends, character, 
and means, to obtain money. Such was my situation in 
Kentucky, I did not know how to work, and had a cruel 
and unkind husband, I could get no friends to tell my 
troubles to, and my husband did not sympathise with me. 
I had to act and advise for myself. How I thought of 
my dear mother ! I could hear and see her mourn for her 
Io§t child. Then I could see how wrong I had been ; but 
it was too late. I knew, for the first time, and was sen* 
sible that I was lost — lost for ever. You may imagine 
how wretched my feelings were. I shortly after made up 
my mind to leave him ; but I knew not where to go, or 
how to defray my expenses. I made a confidant of my 
chambermaid, to assist me in leaving him, as we were* 
then owing considerable for board. 

In my situation, it was easiest, and I thought it was 
best, to go to New Orleans, as I had friends there, and 
there were steamboats leaving Louisville every day for 
that place. I dressed myself in travelling apparel, and left 
our lodgings, unknown to any one, except the chamber- 
maid, to whom I gave all my clothes, except what I had 
on, which were of value. She made arrangements with 
the captain of a steamboat, who was going to New Or- 
leans the next morning, to take me on board. Here I was 
obliged to intrust myself to the charge of a strange cap* 
tain, with no money, for a passage of a thousand miles. 
I told him I had no money, and would pay him when we 
arrived at New Orleans; on which he took me on board ; 
and as the cabin-berths were all taken up. he gave me 
his stateroom, which was a little room opening from the 
cabin, where he kept his books and clothes. This I was 
obliged to consent to ; and he would often come into my 
apartment, and question me, " why I was alone, unpro- 
tected, and without money in that country." I did not 



JL] HER ADVENTURES ON THE OHIO. 49 

think myself obliged to tell him. The steamboat was de- 
layed by running on a sawyer, near a place in the Ohio 
river, called Devil's Point. 

A few days after leaving Louisville, when we were 
about a hundred miles below the mouth of the Ohio, he 
came to my room, heated with strong drink, and insulted 
me. I told him before I would consent to his liberties, I 
would go on shore. Although I was far astray, I still had 
some respect for my person. The noise which he made, 
was heard in the cabin, and the next morning some of the 
passengers made inquiries of the captain about it. He 
said, he suspected I was a person of no character ; and 
that it must have been one of the passengers who was 
there at my room ; and if he found that to be the case, 
he would put me ashore. This excited some of the pas- 
sengers to try to get a glimpse at me, and I received books 
to read, and notes were handed me by the steward, which 
I did not understand; but I knew all was not right. I 
again reflected on my lost situation, and then, on my past ■ 
imprudent conduct 

Tile next night, about 10 o'clock, the captain entered 
my room again. He was much intoxicated, and told me, 
he would put me ashore in that wilderness country, where 
the houses are often forty or fifty miles from each other. 
We came to plain words ; and he then ordered a boat, 
and put me ashore in the night, on the west bank of the 
Mississippi river, by a wood-pile, far from any house, ex- 
cept, the old man's who kept the wood-pile, who came to 
me, and asked what I was put on shore for. I eoutil *»*-* 
tell him, but said I had no more money to pay any mr- 
ther. Upon this, he took me home with him to a little 
village of about ten or fifteen houses, all made of logs, 
very poor, and each containing bnly one room. He told 
his wife he had picked up a poor girl, who had been put 
ashore, for having no money to pay her passage. She 
got me the best she had for supper, and was very kind to 
me ; she had six children. 1 was put in bed with four of 
them, the other two slept with their parents. After I wont 
5 



50 HER ARRIVAL AT NASHVILLE. [Chap. 

to bed, reflecting on my lost situation, I imagined I was 
among robbers, and that they would kill me before morn- 
ing. I spent the night under these feelings. The next 
morning she got up early, and appeared to do every thing 
that laid in her power to provide me a good breakfast. 
I remained here a number of days, before I could decide 
what 4:o do. My mind was fully made up that I was lost 
for this world ; the next did not come into my mind. I 
did not see how I could get away from this place. Every 
day the old gentleman used to go to his wood-pile, to sell 
wood to the steamboats ; and one day, I asked him, if he 
would beg some captain to take me. He used to tell me 
no captain would take me without money, and that I 
must stay with them. All the little village became jeal- 
ous at my remaining with them, they all wanted me to 
come and spend a day with them ; but I did not leave the 
old gentleman. 

Here I was destitute of clothes, for I had nothing be- 
sides what I had on. One day. while I was reflecting 
about what would become of me, I saw the old man and 
a gentleman coming towards the house. He was captain 
of a steamboat ; and had heard, from some of the pas- 
sengers who arrived at Natches by the boat I left Ken- 
tucky in, that Captain B had left a poor female in 

a wilderness country on the Mississippi river. The 
captain knew him and his character, which was one of 
the worst sort. He had done the same thing before, and 
was taken up for it ; but the boat, or part of it, being his 
own, they could do nothing with him. The captain who 
relieved me, was bound to Nashville, in Tennessee, where 
he belonged. He made the poor people a present of five 
dollars, and some provisions from the boat. He took me 
on board, and treated me with the kindness of a brother. 

In nine days we reached Nashville ; but not without 
meeting some more trouble. The steamboat ran on a 
snag in a dark night ; and every one of us thought we 
should be lost ; but only the boat was damaged, and that 
was soon repaired. 



1.] ATTEMPTS SUICIDE WITH LAUDANUM. 51 

When 1 arrived at Nashville, I again found myself 
in a strange country, without friends, character, clothes, 
or money ; and I was brought to reflect on my lost situa- 
tion for ever. How I could seem to hear and see my 
dear mother grieving and mourning for her lost child ! 
The captain took me to an acquaintance of his, who was 
of a respectable family, and told them a favourable story 
concerning me, which I had told him. He was a mar- 
ried man, and had a family living not far from Nashville. 
Here, again, I asked myself what I should do ; for, al- 
though I had gone so far astray, I was now determined 
to respect my person. I was alone, unprotected, poor, 
and in a disguised character, as to the family I was with. 
The captain gave me money for one week's board, out of 
pity for my situation, before he went home to his family. 
I knew the week would soon come to a close, and then 
what should I do for the next ! I had no clothes, except 
what were on me ; and I was sick. 

Here I reflected upon all my past life, from the time I 
was at Montreal with my sisters. Silica tils! I had al- 
ways been imprudent, deceiving my dear mother, and I 
had no one else to blame but myself. I felt lost to the 
whole world, and I had rather die than live. I was not 
brought up with religious instructions, and neither knew 
nor thought what would become of my soul, nor whether 
I had a soul. I made up my mind to make away with 
myself. I bought seven ty-five cents worth of laudanum, 
which I got by selling a lace veil that I had on my hat. 
I bought it at different apothecaries, and came home, 
and told them I had been to see a French family, 
with whom I had become acquainted in New Or- 
leans. I had it in six vials, and put it all in a tumbler 
in my room ready. I then went and sat down with the 
family. The lady was the mother of five children, two 
daughters and three sons. This was about 8 o'clock in 
the evening. I reflected on my dear home, and my dear 
mother, seeing all her dear family around her. I thought, 



52 RECOVERS HER HEALTH. [Chap. 

Oh, mother, mother ! where ami!* I got up immediately 
and went to my room, and swallowed the laudanum. 

Immediately after I had taken it, I felt a pleasant sen- 
sation, which lasted but a short time ; I was then sorry I 
had not written to my dear mother, but it was too late : 
I soon fell on my bed. One of the daughters slept with 
me, and by the time she came to bed, I was past speaking*. 
She gave an alarm, and a doctor was soon sent for. He 
immediately knew what ailed me, and said, ihat by taking 
such a large quantity I had saved my life. Whet) I was 
brought to my senses, I knew what a wicked deed I hao- 
done, and that I had brought myself into a more distress- 
ed situation than before. I was covered with blisters, and 
not only suffering' bodily pain, but was confined to my 
bed, and required the strict attention of a doctor, besides 
the burden I was to the family. The captain also was 
blamed for taking me there ; and it was said all was not 
right ; but the doctor, being a feeling man, said I should 
not be removed, till I was better ; and that he would pay 
mv expenses. He said he knew my friends in New Or- 
leans, as he did my first husband by reputation. Through 
his kindness, I was here three weeks, on a sick bed. He 
paid me strict attention, and all the family were very 
kind. A great many persons called to know what was 
the cause of my rashness ; but they could get no other 
information, than that I was tired of living, and wished 
to die. 

When I was recovered, the doctor advised me to go ou* 
into the country a little way, as it would be better for my 
health ; and I went to a hotel about six miles from Nash 



) 



" My mothers voice ! How often creeps 

Its cadence o'er my lonely hours, 
Like healing sent on wings of sleep, 

Or dew to the unconscious flowers \ 
I can't forget her melting prayer, 

E'en while my pulses madly fly j 
And in the still," unbroken air, 

Her gentle tones come stealing by. 
And years, and sin, and manhood nee, 

And leave me at my mother's knee." 

A New Englm&fati* 



I.] RETURNS TO NEW ORLEANS. 53 

ville, near the president's residence. There I found a 
young lady with whom I had a little acquaintance for- 
merly at New Orleans. She was boarding there, and 1 
found some relief in telling her my troubles. I looked 
pale, like death. She was a person of my size, and well 
supplied with clothes. She gave me leave to make free, 
and take what I wanted, the same as a sister, and would 
not consent to my leaving for New Orleans, until she was 
ready to go. In a little time I recovered my health ; but 
never thought it was through the kind mercy of God that 
friends had been raised up to minister to my wants among 
strangers, and that I had not gone to an everlasting hell. 
I revealed all my troubles to my friend, as I esteemed 
her. She was a person who had seen a great deal of the 
world, and never took any trouble to heart. I soon thought 
-very little of my past situation : but a few days ago I was 
so near another world and lost for ever ! O, I cannot now 
help saying, Lord, I was not deserving thy kind mercies ! 
But I had not these feelings at that time ; I knew not 
the value of my soul, and I felt lost to the whole world. 
I left for New Orleans with my friend, who defrayed my 
expenses on the journey. Here I found myself again in 
the place where my troubles commenced. Only eighteen 
months ago, I was living a thoughtless life, in splendour 
and in wealth ; and now I had nothing but what my 
friend gave me. I could not bear the idea of going to see 

Mr. M , the gentleman I had been living with. I knew 

I had brought all my troubles on myself; for I married 

Mr. W more to reclaim my character, than any other 

motive. I had no desire to see any of my acquaintances, 
partly through mortification at my low circumstances, and 
partly because many of my friends had told me I should 

be sorry if I trusted to Mr. W . I had known a lady, 

when previously living in New Orleans, who, at this time, 
lived in Havana, but was on a visit at New Orleans. 
As I had no desire to live in New Orleans, I consented tc 
go with her to Havana. She was in good circumstances, 
but not married to the gentleman she lived with, which 
was thought little of in that country. 
5* 



64 CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap. 

CHAPTER II. 

ON THE CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY* 

" Proh dolor ! hos toterare potest Ecelesia Poreo* 
Duntaxat ventri, veneri, somnoque, vacantes V } 



PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

Such is the dark picture of the moral corruptions of the Romish 
Priesthood, that is about to be laid open before the public in the follow- 
ing Narrative, that we have thought it expedient to introduce this chap- 
ter, which is principally taken from " Edgar's Variations," by way oi 
introduction to it. 

Our object in this, is to prepare the public mind for believing the 
disclosures that are to be laid before them, by exhibiting to them a 
mere glimpse, as it were, of the pernicious effects of Priestly eelibacy, 
as it has been portrayed by their own writers, theologians, Saints, Popes, 
and Councils. 

The disclosures made by the authoress of this Narrative, astonish- 
ingly wonderful and black as they are, do not, however, make the pic- 
ture of Priestly licentiousness more atrocious than the character given 
of them by their own writers. 

The picture which is drawn by the pious authoress of this Narrative, 
although not darker than that traced outby the pen of Popish writers 
themselves, is, however, more interesting, from the circumstance, that 
the events which she describes are of recent date, and most of the per- 
sonages of whom she speaks, are now actually living, and are still im- 
plicated in the crimes and abominations which form the subject of the 
Narrative. 

We, therefore, earnestly beg the public to give this 2d chapter a 
reading previous to entering upon the 3d, which is the commencement 
of the captivity and sufferings of the authoress on the island of Cuba, 
and of the horrid disclosures which she makes. 



The origin of Popish Celibacy. — Its immediate and pernicious effects. — 
Pope Gregory VII, who was promoted to the Popedom, A. D. 1074, en- 
acts severe la?cs to restrain the profligacy of the Clergy. — The effects of 
his severity. — Cauncils convened for the same purpose. — Character of 
the Popish Clergy previous to the Reformation. — The Prelates of the 
General Councils of Lyons, Constance, and Basil, as criminal as the 
Clergy whom they pretend they wish to reform. — Character of the Po- 
pish Clergy since the Reformation. 

The Decretal of Pope Syricius, addressed, in the year 
385, to Himerius, contains the first general interdiction of 



II.] CELIBACY OP THE POPISH CLERGY. 55 

Clerical matrimony. Its priority, as a general prohibition, 
is acknowledged by Clithou as well as by Bruys, Espen- 
saeus, Cassander, and many other patrons of Popery. No 
authority of an earlier date can be produced for the en- 
actment. Clithou, c. 4. in Bell. I. Bruy. I. 142. 

The consequence of this Decree was, that the Romish 
Clergy, from that day, became the most licentious of men. 
Many of them absolutely refused to obey it. Various 
plans were resorted to in order to evade its severity ; one 
of which was the introduction of Sunisactanism or Do- 
mesticism. A second party engaged in open or con- 
cealed concubinage ; while a third party, in bold, honest, 
and honorable violation of unjust, unnatural, and un- 
scriptural Canons, married and lived, not indeed in absti- 
nence, but in chastity with their lawful wives. 

Many of the Clergy had recourse, in this extremity, to 
Domesticism. This consisted in keeping female inmates 
in their dwellings. These women were devoted in pro- 
fession, though not by vow, to virginity. (Now-a-days, 
these Priestly coadjutresses are styled Nieces^ or Nuns.) 
Their ostensible duty was to superintend the domestic 
concerns of the house. Cyprian, Jerom, and Chrysos- 
tom, have depicted the cohabitation of these holy domes- 
tics with a bold, but faithful pencil. These holy Priests 
and their domestics, if the statement of the Saints may be 
credited, occupied the same house, the same chamber, and 
the same every thing else ; — " Eadem domo, uno cnbiculo 
saepe uno tenentur et lectulo." Jerom ad Eust. 4. 33. 
Cyprian ad Pom.— Edgar. 

The Clergy, after that memorable and fatal epoch, were 
converted into mere gallants and coxcombs. Their whole 
attention, says their St. Jerom, was engaged on dress and 
perfumery. Their fingers shone with rings, their hair 
was frizzled by the curling-tongs, and they walked on 
tiptoe, lest their shoes or feet should get besmeared with 
dirt. Jerom, 4. 40. 

Chrysostom also gives an animated description of the 
society of the Romish Priests and their housekeepers. 
He portrays in glowing colors, " their smiles, their laughs, 



56 CELIBACY OP THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap. 

their free conversation, their soft words, their communi- 
cations at table during the day, their supping together at 
night, and other things which we deem it proper to omit." 
Chysos. de Subin. I. 231. 

A second variety of evasion of these Canons, consisted 
in concubinage. This was a native result of the unna- 
tural regulations against wedlock. The accounts on this 
subject, transmitted by the historians of those times, are 
appalling. Profligacy, says Giannon, prevailed among the 
Clergy, who practised all kinds of lewdness. Ratherius, 
Bishop of Verona, represents the Clergy as guilty of biga- 
my, drunkenness, and fornication. The Italian Priest- 
hood, in particular, says he, fomented their passions by 
excess of food and wine. Gian. V. 6. Dach. I. 354. 
Bruy. 2. 268. 

Atto's language on this topic is equally striking. He says 
that the Priests lived in a public manner with their conse- 
crated paramours. Fascinated with their wanton allure- 
ments, the abandoned Clergy conferred on the partners of 
their guilt, the superintendence of their family and all 
their domestic concerns. Their courtezans, during the 
life of their companions in iniquity, managed their house- 
hold ; and at their death, heired their property. The Ec- 
clesiastical alms and revenues, in this manner, descended 
to the accomplices of vile pollution. Atto, Ep. 9. Dach. 
I. 439. The hirelings of prostitution were adorned, the 
Church wasted, and the poor oppressed by men, who pro- 
fessed to be the patrons of purity, the guardians of truth, 
and the protectors of the wretched and the needy. 

Damian represents the guilty Mistress as Confessing to 
the' guilty Priest. Dam. in Bruy. 2. 356. Gian. X. §. 1. 
This presented another absurdity, and an aggravation of 
the crime. The formality of Confessing what the Father 
Confessor knew, and receiving forgiveness from a part- 
ner in sin, was an insult on common sense, and presented 
one of the many ridiculous scenes which have been ex- 
hibited on the theatre of the world. 

The adultery and fornication of the Clergy degenera- 
ted, in many instances, into incest and other abominations 



II.] CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. 5? 

of the grossest kind. Some Priests, according to the 
Council of Mentz, in the year 888, " had sons by their 
own sisters." Bin. 7. 137. Labb. 11. 586. 

The Council of Nice and some others of a later date, 
through fear of scandal, deprived the Clergy of all female 
company, except a mother, a sister, or an aunt, who, it 
was reckoned, were beyond all suspicion. But the means 
intended for prevention, was the occasion of more accu- 
mulated scandal and more heinous criminality. The in- 
terdiction was the introduction to incestuous and unna- 
tural prostitution. The Council of Mentz, therefore, in 
its 10th Canon, as well as other cotemporary and late Sy- 
nods, had to forbid the Clergy the society of even their 
nearest female relations. 

A third variety for the evasion, or rather for the infrac- 
tion of these Canonical interdictions, was clandestine or 
avowed matrimony. Some of the Priests Avho still had 
some remains of conscience, shuddered at the commission 
of fornication, adultery, or incest ; and had recourse, there- 
fore, to the honorable institution of marriage. The num- 
ber of these continued to increase in opposition to the 
Decretals of Popes, the Canons of Councils, and the pre- 
possessions of the people. Epiph. H. 59. Jerom adv. Vig. 
Thorn. I. 43. 

Such was the state of Clerical matrimony, at the acces- 
sion of Hildebrand or Gregory VII. to the Popedom, in 
the year 1074. The reign of this hierarch commenced a 
new era in the annals of Sacerdotal celibacy. Gregory 
enforced celibacy with a high hand among the Latin Ec- 
clesiastics ; and was supported in the undertaking by many 
of the laity. The attempt, however, was long opposed by 
the Priesthood : and its success terminated in the general 
concubinage and debauchery of the Western Clergy. 

Gregory succeeded, to a great extent, in the suppres- 
sion of Priestly marriage. Several of his predecessors had 
made a similar attempt, but in vain. Stephen, Nicholas, 
and Alexander, had labored for this purpose, and failed. 
But Gregory proceeded in this, as in every other design, 
with superior abilitjr, perseverance, and resolution ; and 



58 CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap. 

his efforts were crowned, in the end, with wonderful sue* 
(jess. He summoned a Council, and issued Canons, sepa- 
rating the married Clergy from their partners, and forbid- 
ding the ordination of any who would not vow perpetual 
continence. He prohibited the laity from hearing Mass, 
when celebrated by a married Priest. Bin. 7. 473. Bruy. 
2. 388. 418. Labb. 12. 547. Du Pin, 2. 244. 

Such swelling innovations, and such severe enactments 
against marriage in the Clergy, caused all Popish Christ- 
endom to be polluted with Sacerdotal profligacy of the 
deepest dye, as is evident from the relations of Bernard, 
Agrippa, Henry, Clemangis, and Mezeray. Bernard the 
Saint of Clairvaux, in the 12th century, admitted and 
lamented the licentiousness of the Prelacy and Priesthood, 
" who committed, in secret, such acts of turpitude as would 
be shameful to express." Bernard, 1725 — 1728. 

Clemangis reckoned the adultery, impurity, and obscen- 
ity of the Clergy, beyond all description. They frequented 
the stews and taverns, and spent their whole time in eat- 
ing, drinking, reveling, gaming, and dancing. Surfeited 
arid, drunk, these Sacerdotal sensualists fought, shouted, 
roared, rioted, and blasphemed God and the Saints ; and 
passed, shortly after, from the embrace of the harlot, to 
the altar of God. Clemangis, through shame, drew the 
curtain over the abominations that the Nuns practised in 
their Convents, which he called brothels of licentiousness. 
To veil a woman was, in that' age, to prostitute her. 

For further details relative to the shocking depravity 
of the Popish Clergy daring the succeeding centuries, and 
up to the time of the Reformation, for brevity sake, I re* 
fer the reader to Henry, Clemangis, Mezeray, and other 
historians of those days, whose annals are stained with 
the universal depravity of the Romish hierarchy ; Popes, 
Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Monks, and Nuns, are all in- 
cluded. 

Lest the weight of the above testimonies should be con- 
sidered by the Papists as insufficient, we will add to it that 
of their venerable Councils. The Council of Valladolid, 
in the year 1322, in its 7th Canon, confirms all that is 



II.] CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. 59 

stated above. " The Clergy," (according to this Council,) 
" prodigal of character and salvation, led lives of enormity 
and profligacy in public concubinage." The Canon of 
Valladolid was renewed in the year 1473, in the Council 
of Toledo. This Council represented the clergy as living 
in the filthiest atrocity, which rendered them contempti- 
ble to the people. Labb. 15. 247. Several other Coun- 
cils, which for brevity sake have to be omitted, also thun- 
dered out their Bulls and Decrees against the licentious- 
ness of the Priestly marauders. 

The Italian and Roman Clergy appear, of all others, to 
have been the most licentious. Dachery, I. 354. 

A select Cbuncil of Cardinals and Bishops assembled by 
Paul 3d, in the year 1538, have drawn a picture of the 
Roman courtezans, and the attention paid them by the 
Roman Clergy. These courtezans lived in splendid pa- 
laces, walked or rode as matrons through the city, and 
were attended at noonday by a train of the Clergy and 
the nobility, the friends of the Cardinals. Crabb. 3. 823. 
Coss. 5. 547. 

To put the climax to all these abominations, we find 
that even the very Prelates themselves assembled in Gene- 
ral Councils were as licentious, abandoned, and guilty as 
the Priests in their dispersed capacity. This was exem- 
plified in the General Councils of Lyons, Constance, and 
Basil. The Council of Lyons demoralized the city in 
which it was convened. Cardinal Hugo, in a speech to 
the citizens, immediately after the dissolution of the Sa- 
cred Synod, boasted that Lyons, at the meeting of the as- 
sembly, contained two or three stews ; but, at its departure, 
comprehended only one ; which, however, extended with- 
out interruption, from the Eastern to the Western Gate. 
Labb. 16. 1436. Bruy. 4. 39. Labb. 16. 1435. Edgar. 

We shall now turn to the Decrees of Pope Benedict 
XIV. as recorded by the great St. Ligori ; either of which 
authorities, no Papist will dare to call in question. By 
these documents we shall see that the Popish Clergy are 
still what they ever have been, men of morals the most 



60 CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap. 

corrupt ; and men too, of ail others, who are not to be 
trusted alone with females. 

The Decrees to which I allude, of the Sovereign Pontiff 
Benedict XIV. are recorded by the great St. Ligori, 
in his Theological Treatise, Tom. ix. De Rom. Pont. 
Deer. cap. 2. The Decrees are headed thus : " Contra 

SOLLICITANTES," &C. et " CONTRA EXQ,UIR.ENTES,' 7 &C 

" Against those Priests who entice others to sin, and who 
abuse the sacrifice of the Mass" &c. 

In respect to one of the Decrees, the Saint, speaking of 
the Sovereign Pontiff Benedict XIV. says, " Our Most 
Holy Lord," (the Pope,) " seeing how great is the sin of 
those lost men," (alluding to the Priests,) " who abuse the 
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Sacrament of Confes- 
sion, which was instituted for the salvation of the faith- 
ful, but which they make use of for their destruction and 
damnation" — "Decrees, that hereafter all Priests, both 
secular and regular, of whatever Order, Institution, Con- 
gregation, or Society soever they may be, who solicit those 
whose Confessions they hear, to filthy and criminal ac- 
tions, shall, besides the penalties already threatened by the 
Canon Law, the Apostolical Constitutions, and especially 
by the Constitutions of Sixtus V. and Gregory XV. of hap- 
py memory, shall, we decree, incur the perpetual inability 
of celebrating the aforesaid Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 7 ' 

The other Decree was issued by the Pope, in order to 
put a check to a custom that was common among the 
Priests in Spain, of compelling their penitents, in the tri- 
bunal of Confession, to tell them who were their accom- 
plices in sin. It is stated in the Decree that the Ghostly 
Fathers were so pertinaciously bent on ascertaining the 
names and the residence of those with whom their peni- 
tents were in the habit of committing sin, that, not con- 
tent with merely soliciting them to tell them where their 
accomplices lived, they were compelled to do it, by not 
granting them the absolution of their sins. " Which in- 
tolerable impudence P (says the Pope,) " they color over, 
under the pretext that they wish to visit them merely to 
give them good advice!" "1am vero!" exclaims the 



II.] CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. 61 

Holy Father, the Pope, " experience has taught us what 
evils have followed from such a course as this !" [Ligori 
Theol. T. ix. De Rom. Pont. Deer. c. 2.] 

Ligori has also presented us with another Decree of this 
same Pontiff, entitled " Super Clausura Monialium." 

By this Decree, all Clergymen, of whatsoever dignity 
they may be, are strictly prohibited from entering into 
Nunneries, or from having any communication with the 
Nuns, under any pretext whatever. 

It appears, from what the Saint writes, that this Decree 
of Benedict XIV. is no more than a renewed promulga- 
tion of Decrees which had already frequently been made, 
relative to the same subject, by many of his predecessors, 
and especially by the Holy Council of Trent. 

" Excepiis damtaxatP The only exception that is 
made to this interdiction, is respecting the Superiors of 
those Establishments, that is, those Clergymen under whose 
immediate jurisdiction the Nuns are placed ; and even in 
regard to these, the Decree is as follows : u in cassibus ta- 
men necessariis, et servatisde jure servandis, et non aliter 
omnino," they, the superiors, are to have no intercourse 
with the Nuns, " except in cases of necessity, observing, 
at the same time, the Rules laid down by the Canons, but 
otherwise, they are by no means whatsoever to have any 
intercourse together." (Id. ib.) 

The rules laid down by the Canons, which are here 
spoken of, are, that Priests shall never hear the Confes- 
sions of Nuns in a private or clandestine manner, but 
openly, in the Confessional-boxes, in the Chapel. 

So much importance was attached to the observance ot 
these mandates, that those Priests who dared to infringe 
them, incurred, " ipso facto" the Censures of the church, 
from which no one could absolve them but the Sovereign 
Pontiff himself except at the hour of death. (Id. ib. D. vi.) 

The aforesaid Decrees were given, " sub annulo 
Piscatop.is," a under the ring of the Fisherman" the 
one, on the 4th of the Nones of June, A. D. 1746, the 
other, on the 3d of January, 1742. 

The great St. Basil, it seems, knew as much about the 
6 



62 CELIBACY OF T^iT POP1SU CLMSLGT* [Ch&p, 

Priests, as St. Ligori, and Pope Benedict XIV., and SixtitS 
V. ? and Gregory XV., and the compilers of the Canon 
Law, and of the Apostolical Constitutions, and the Holy 
Council of Trent ; for all of these were perfectly well ac- 
quainted with the character of the Priesthood, and took 
3very precaution in their power to keep them within 
oounds. The great St. Basil, we say f knew as much 
about the thing as any of the rest. " It is more proper, 77 
(says this great Saint,) " for the Lady Soperieure to be 
present while a Nun is Confessing to a Priest, for the sake 
of decency and safety." Basil, Reg. Brer. Int. 110. We, 
the wicked heretics, generally consider that a child is per- 
fectly safe with its father j but we see from the above, 
that the Popes and the Saints had reason to think that the 
spiritual children of the Priests, are not altogether safe 
with their Spiritual Fathers. 

Thoroughly assured, indeed, must we be, that the dis- 
orders which reign amongst the Priests, must be of a cha- 
racter of the deepest dye, to force even their own Pontiffs 
thus publicly, and plainly, and severely, to reprimand 
them, and to threaten them with the Censures and the 
penalties of the church, unless they reform, and restrain 
their passions. 

I am fully aware that the Romish Priests, although they 
cannot deny the truth of the statements made by their 
own Saints, will endeavor to cloak the thing over by say- 
ing, that there are bad men to be found in every state and 
condition of life, that there was a Judas even among the 
Apostles. This is all true, but, unfortunately, it appears 
that the number of the guilty is not few, but many. 
"Many Priests" (says Saint Ligori,) "who before," (they 
began to hear the Confession of the spiritual women,) 
u were innocent, afterwards, on account of their attrac- 
tions, lost both God and their soul P Ligori, Prax. Conf. 
T. VIII. C, 8. N. 119, 120. 

Poor, fragile Spiritual Fathers indeed must they be I 
that, in order to preserve their Spiritual Children from fait 
ing a prey to their unruly passions, it was found necessary, 
as St. Basil states, that " the Superieure or Abbess of the 



II.] CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. 63 

Monastery should be present to watch thern while hearing 
the Confession of the Nuns P or that it should be found 
expedient, as St. Ligori states, " that the doors should be 
kept open while the Priests are hearing the Confession of 
the women, and that they should sit where they could be 
seen !" Ligori, Prax. Conf. T. VIII. C. 8. N. 119. 

" Experience has taught us/' (says the Pope, Benedict 
XIV.) u what evils have followed from such a course as 
this l" that is, as has been related above, from the Priests 3 
41 visiting females under pretence of giving them good 
udvice?' 

We now see what precautions are absolutely necessary, 
in order to protect female innocence from the dangers to 
which they are exposed by Confessing to their Ghostly 
Fathers. 

Now, if it be found that none of these prudent precau- 
tions are observed, but, on the contrary, the very oppo- 
site extreme is adopted, these two conclusions irresistibly 
rush upon the mind ; the one, that there must be some- 
thing radically wrong in the Priests. Certain things are 
peremptorily forbidden them, by their Saints, by their 
Popes, and even by the Infallible Council of Trent ; and 
they disobey. And the consequent conclusion, which 
presses with the weight of demonstration, is, that they 
must have some ulterior design in view, for the accom- 
plishing of which, they are willing to sacrifice their con- 
science in the sacrifice of obedience ; and when conscience 
is gone, the depravity of nature under the influence of the 
passions, usurps her place. 

Now, when we reflect upon what Bellarmine, Ricci, 
Petrarch, and others, have told us respecting Nuns, those 
spiritual women, as Ligori calls them, that is, "that many 
of them enter into the Monasteries who are not called 
of God ; enter through motives prompted by flesh 
and blood," (Bellarm. Gem. Colom. 3 Opusc. L. 11. C. 
5.) and compare it with what Ligori, Pope Benedict XIV., 
and others, tell us respecting the Priests, that is, " that 
many of them, who before were innocent, have, on ac- 
count of the attractions of those spiritual women, 



64 CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap. 

(the Nuns,) lost both God and their soul f I say, when 
we reflect on all this, we are demonstratively convinced, 
that the Monastic Institutions, the Tribunal of Confession, 
and the Celibacy of the Priesthood, are very far indeed 
from being of Divine institution, as is pretended. iSor 
were these Institutions ever introduced into the world 
under the influence of the Spirit of God. For, certainly, 
the Spirit of God, is a Spirit of wisdom, a Spirit of counsel, 
and a Spirit of love. But where would be the wisdom, in 
unnecessarily placing his creatures in the midst of danger, 
when he tells us, " that he ioho loveth danger shall 
jierish in it ?" Where would be his counsel, in subject- 
ing the infirmities of the flesh to excitements, which his 
Holy Word throughout commands us to shun? And 
where would be his love, in placing his creatures in that 
situation of life which will be their ruin ? No — God 
wishes us, and commands us, to shun danger ; to avoid 
the occasions of criminal excitements ; and to pursue a 
course of life that will ultimately lead to happiness. 

Before we close this chapter on the baneful conse- 
quences which emanate from a Popish system of Clerical 
celibacy, we will unfold a leaf or two of the writings of 
the celebrated St. Ligori, who was Canonized by Pope 
Pius VIL, on the 15th September, A. D. 1816. His sys- 
tem of Theology, from which I quote, is received and 
taught in all the Popish schools. That it stands on the 
highest pinnacle of esteem and commendation in the 
church of Rome, I prove by the eulogiums passed upon 
it by the same Sovereign Pontiff, by whom he was Ca- 
nonized, as well as by the exalted praises lavished upon 
it by the " Sacred Congregation of Rites." and by 
his "Supreme Eminence the Cardinal of Castile/' 
The two former of these, that is, Pope Pius VIL, and the 
" Sacred Congregation of Rites," have declared, 
that " in ea nihil censnra dignum repertum fuisse? — 
" that they have found in the Moral Theology 
of St. Ligori, nothing worthy of censure." The 
latter, that is, his " Supreme Eminence the Cardinal 
of Castile," says, that " St. Ligori is the ornament Qt 



II.] CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. 65 

our age, and the splendor of the Episcopal Order," and 
that "there is nothing in what he teaches, that is not 
sound, wholesome, and according to God," — " Sana ac 
sextmdum DeumP Ligor. Theol. Prefatio VI. 

Now, according to this same Saint Ligori, I am going 
to show, that the church of Rome propagates a doctrine, 
under which all their Clergy can find, a cloak to screen 
the vices to which they are addicted in consequence of 
their forced and unnatural state of celibacy. The doc- 
trine to which I allude is, that the devil has the power of 
assuming a human shape, and that he actually exercises 
this power for the purpose of indulging his lustful appe- 
tite. Theol. Ligor., Prox. Conf. T. VIII. C. VII. S. 7. 

In the exercise of this power, the church of Rome 
teaches, that the devil "potest etiam verum semen afferre 
aliunde acceptum, naturalemque ejus emissionem imitari, 
ct quod ex hujusmodi concubitu vera proles possit nasci, 
puta a viro in somno pollutionem patiente, et prolificum 
calorem conservando, illico in matricem infundere ; quo 
casu proles ilia non erit quidem filia dsemonis, sed illius 
cujus est semen, ut ait D. Thomas." Id. ib. 

Hence it is, that in Popish countries, the Priests have 
nothing more to do than to lay the fruits of their illicit 
intercourse to the charge of the devil, who, according to 
the doctrine of the Popish church, has to father all the 
progeny of Priestly propagation. 

Let a Priest act in regard to this matter as he will, he 
can exculpate himself with ease, by merely insisting that 
it was not he who committed the deed, but the devil who 
assumed his person. In vain is it then, for a Nun, or any 
other Miss soever, to pretend to identify the Priest in her 
accusation of his criminality. He will tell her, (and she 
is bound to believe him,) that it was the devil who as 
sumed his shape, imitated his voice, and deceived her in 
disguise. 

So firmly persuaded is the church of Rome of the truth 

of what is spoken of above, that the very last victim that 

was publicly burned by the Inquisition at Seville in Spain, 

on the 7th November, in the year 1781, was burned ex- 

6* 



66 CELIBACY OF THE POPISH CLERGY. [Chap, 

pressly on account of her being supposed guilty of the 
thing above stated. Llorente* in his History of the Inqui- 
sition of Spain, speaking of this woman, who, he says, 
was a supposed Saint 3 tells us that she was burned to 
death by the Inquisition, for having* made a covenant 
with the devil, and for having had illicit intercourse with 
him under the disguise of a man. Had she not remained 
" negatively impenitent" to use the Inquisitorial techni- 
cality, i. e. had she acknowledged that she was guilty, 
says he, she might have escaped death. Lorente T. iv. 
C.66. 

This fact proves at once, independent of other proofs, 
that the above stated horrors accord both with the doc- 
trine of the Romish Divines, and with that of the Romish 
church. 

Thus we see to what satanic stratagems these men re- 
sort, in order to satiate their lust with impunity. O ! the 
horrors of their pretended purity ! Such are the results of 
their boasted celibacy ! — and the execrable doctrine they 
affirm is found in Scripture, "verissima Scriptura tes- 
tatur? says Ligori. Ibid. 

Are men who can invent such a doctrine as this, to be 
trusted with virtuous females? Nuns, if they had a spark 
of virtue, should spurn such " Holy Fathers? Were they 
innocent, and not destitute of common sense, they might 
see the object of a doctrine so foul, and so fraught with 
every danger. 

Enough has now been said. Let the world pass its 
sentenced 

* Llorente was a Popish historian, and wrote with truth and candor. 

+ For further details respecting Popish celibacy, see " Downfall op 

Babylon," a weekly Periodical, published in New York, Vol. 1, No. 



III.] VOYAGE TO HAVANNA. 6? 



CHAPTER III. 

"Fear God !" the thunders said; "Fear God!" the waves; 
"Fear God !" the lightning of the storm replied ; 
" Fear God !" deep loudly answered back to deep. - 

Pollock. 

Voyage to Havanna. — Engages with Father Manuel Canto, a Romish 
Priest. — Learns the Champara Spanish. — Has the Stmnger's Fever. — 
Attempt to make her a Roman Catholic— Manuel 1 s habits of Gambling, 

— The dress of the Priests. — Second attack of the Fever, and attempt 
to make her a Roman Catholic. — Dress of the Capuchins. — Reasons with 
the Priest on their wicked course of life. — On their power to forgive sins. 

— The Confession of Criminals who had committed robbery, in order to 
get money to fee the Priests for saying Masses to save their souls. — 
ManueVs Supper Parties, and Friends, at RosamonaVs House. — The 
Priests sell different sorts of Candles for various Superstitious Purposes. 

We left New Orleans for Matanzas, there being no 
vessel direct for Havanna, and had a rough and danger- 
ous passage of ten days. Once we were in a severe 
storm, and every one on board expected to perish. This 
was the first time I ever was afraid to die. Oh ! I well 
remember what my feelings were at the time ; when I 
thought, if I died, I should go to everlasting torments. 
Now I reflected on my cruel treatment to my dear mother, 
and what I had done while at Nashville, which I had 
never thought or felt the wickedness of till then. 1 
prayed, and said, if God would spare my life, and let me 
get on land again, I would go home to my dear parents. 
One of the sailors was washed overboard, and lost in the 
storm. When we got to Matanzas, I soon forgot the 
serious promise I had made ; and how could I expect to 
prosper ! We remained here but a few days, and then 
went to Havanna. 

Here I found myself in another world, as I thought, in 
a Spanish country ; I did not understand their language, 
nor they mine. The people are more easy and free in 
their manners, than in New Orleans ; but, as to charac- 
ter, it does not make much difference who, or what 
stranger you are, so long as you dress, and make a good 
appearance. Several American ladies were living oil the 



68 FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH FATHER C. [Chap. 

island, who were all wealthy, and appeared happy in their 
private relations. I had been there but a few days, be- 
fore I became acquainted, through one of my female 
friends, with a Spanish Priest, named Manuel Canto, and 
commonly called Father Canto, who belonged to St 
Francisco Convent. Through an interpreter, he made 
me an offer to take me under his protection ; and I con- 
sented to live with him, not knowing, at the time, that he 
was a Priest. He immediately hired a house for me, at three 
ounces, or fifty dollars a month, and he furnished me five 
hundred dollars to commence with, and I put myself 
under his protection wholly. Then it was too late to re- 
consider the step ; for if once you put yourself under their 
protection, it is dangerous to leave a Roman Catholic 
Priest in that country. I remained with him there on the 
island about five years. In that time I was put in the 
way to learn and see a great deal of their wickedness, and 
the way they lead their people in darkness. At the time 
I went first to live with him, I could not understand one 
word of his language, nor he of mine. 

He was always desirous to learn the English ; but he 
preferred that I should learn to speak and read the Cham- 
para language, which is a sort of Creole Spanish, half 
Spanish and half African. In this language he always 
conversed and corresponded with me ; and in it I shall 
write the names and Spanish words found here. 

He got me a teacher, and I soon learned his language ; 
and when I left him he could write and understand my 
own language. During that five years I lived a gloomy 
and a wretched life with him. I suffered every thing but 
death, in body and in mind ; I was as ignorant as any 
heathen in the right view of eternity, although I was 
born here in America ; but I was young when I first 
went to live in those countries. I still knew and felt that 
their religion was not right.* 

* " For both prophet and priest are profane ; yea, in my house have 
I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. And I have seen folly in the 
prophets — a horrible thing : they commit adultery and walk in lies : 
they strengthen also the hands of the evil doers, that none doth retura 
from his wickedness." — Jer. 23: 11. 14. 



III.] HER SICKNESS. 69 

When I had learned sufficient of the language to un- 
derstand what he said, I soon forgot my past troubles, the 
value of a character, and the promises I had made while 
crossing the ocean. 

I had lived here but a short time with him, before I 
took the Creole, or stranger's fever, which they call the 
black vomit. I laid very sick three weeks, and was not 
expected to recover by any one, even by the doctor, who 
belonged to one of the Convents. I was visited by 
several of Manuel's friends, and treated kindly by all. I. 
was again afraid to die, and they wanted me to be christ- 
ened, and said I was a Protestant, and if I died I must go 
to hell. I never can forget, when I lay very low one 
day, my Priest came to my bed, and told me he was afraid 
I was going to die, and it was his desire I should be christ- 
ened, as I was a Protestant. I did not know what he 
meant by a Protestant, as I had been always brought up 
in darkness. I cannot help saying, Lord ! why was I 
kept so long in darkness, without knowing I had such a 
kind and merciful God ? Yes, dear Saviour, I can never 
do too much to serve thee here, should I live ten thousand 
years ; for I now know, and can see, what a merciful and 
forgiving God I have ! When I knew thee not, I used to 
think, in trouble, what an unjust God ! but I adore the 
righteous God, and pray, O Lord! that from this very 
day, this very hour I am writing this, I may serve thee 
henceforth with sincerity, since thou hast opened my 
blind eyes ! 

They soon after lighted up candles in my room, and a 
Capuchin Priest came, with three or four Priests in 
habits, and death-candles were lighted. I asked Manuel 
what the candles were burning for? He said, to get me 
through Purgatory.* I did not know the meaning of it, 

* The Popish Divines place Purgatory in the bowels of the earth. 
The vast cavity in the central regions of the world, is, according to 
these theologians, divided into four apartments, which form Hell, Pur- 
gatory, and the Limbo of infants, and of the Fathers. The two former, 
according to them, are in the same neighborhood. The prison of the 
children is raised above Purgatory, say the Schoolmen and Innocent 
HI., so that the flames of the latter come not near the establishment of 



70 DEATH-CANDLES. [Chap* 

but it appeared to me, I was in a worse place, and every- 
one of the priests, devils, with the old Capuchin at the 
head of them. At this time, one of my American friends 
came in, who could speak their language. It was not 

the former. Alex. 9, 352. Bell. II. 6. Aquin. III. 69. VII. Rosaccio, 
an Italian Doctor, in the year 16*20, determined with mathematical pre- 
cision, the exact situation of Purgatory. According to this celebrated 
Doctor, Purgatory is precisely 15.750 miles above the sphere of hell, 
and -2,550 1-2 miles from the inhabitants of the world. Bell. II. 6. Ro- 
saccio, C. 4. Edgar. 

In regard to what specific punishment they undergo in Purgatory, the 
Papist Divines have always been at variance. Some think they suffer 
by hot and cold water, others by fire. The water of Purgatory, accord- 
ing to the most authentic accounts, is both hot and cold; and the 
wretched sufferers are perpetually driven by the current, first, among 
icy glaciers, where the soul becomes congealed into lumps of ice, and 
then asain are driven back into the sulphureous regions, where they 
boil. Alex. 9, 393. Greg. IV. 40. Bellarmine II. 6. 

Drithelm, whose story is related by Beda and. Bellarmine, was led on 
his journey by an angel in shining raiment ; and proceeded, in the con> 
pany of his guide, towards the rising of the sun. The travelers, at 
length, arrived, in a valley of vast dimensions. This region, to the left, 
was covered with roasting furnaces, and to the right, with icy cold, 
hail, and snow. The whole valley was filled with human son Is, which 
a tempest seemed to toss in all directions. The unhappy spirits, unable 
in the one part, to bear the violent heat, leaped into the shivering cold, 
which again drove them into the scorching flames, which cannot be ex- 
tinguished. A numberless multitude of deformed souls, were, in this 
manner, whirled about, and tormented without intermission, in the ex- 
tremes of alternate heat and cold. This, according to the Purgatorial 
conductor who piloted Drithelm, is the place of chastisement for such 
as defer Confession and amendment till the hour of death. All these, 
however, will, at the last day, be admitted into heaven: while many, 
through alms, vigils, pravers. and especially the Mass, will be liberated 
even before the General judgment. Beda, V. 12. Bell. L. 7. M. Paris, 
83, 180. 207. Edgar. 

These, and a thousand other such fictions, are believed in Popish 
countries, and are recorded, for the edification of the people, by the 
gravest Popish writers. 

Papists must acknowledge, if their doctrine is consistent, and the 
Word of God is true, that there is no such place as Purgatory to be 
found, except in the brains of the Popish Clergy, who conceive and bring 
forth the monstrous doctrine for no other end than to fill their coffers, 
and impose upon the ignorance of their devotees. The Romish church 
acknowledges, that those who die in a state of sanctifving grace, that is, 
the righteous, do not go to hell. This being admitted, Purgatory must 
disappear like a shadow before the sun, when the Word of God shines 
forth upon it; for the Scriptures expressly declare, " Blessed are the 
d-cad who die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labors} 1 Rev. xiv. 13. To this, we take the liberty of 
adding a text from the Popish Canon of the Scriptures, which reads as 



Ill] HER RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS, 71 

her wish that I should be christened, and she interfered, 
and told them, that if they did not put out the lights, it 
would make me crazy. Upon this it was done in a little 
time ; and the old Capuchin said, the Americans were 
like dumb beasts, and were Satan's children. I soon after 
recovered, but did not think it was God's kind mercies 
that restored me to health again. I then entered again 
upon a thoughtless life, during which, I seldom gave a 
thought to my dear, dear mother, brothers, or sisters ; but 
felt happy in indulging in the customs of the place, where 
they have every thing rich and splendid, horrid and 
wicked.* 

follows, " The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there 
shall no torment touch them" Wisdom, Consequently there can be no 
Purgatory after death ; for, according to the Popish doctrine, that is 
not a place of rest, but torment. — Ed. 

* It is wonderful that men living in open and gross violation of the 
Gospel law, should be anxious to confer an ordinance of the Gospel on a 
poor sinner for the saving of her soul. The strong delusion of Popery, 
is seen in this very thing, that its ministers thought by the imposition of 
their hands in baptism, they could cleanse the heart of Rosamond, and 
give her entrance into heaven. No repentance was required ; but only 
a willingness on her part, or, in failure of her power to express thai 
willingness, the consent of her American friends for her to receive 
the ordinance. These friends abhorred the Priests from the very heart. 
Knowing both the sanctified airs, and the secret works of darkness of 
the Romish Priests, they refused to consent to the prostitution of the 
holy rite in the case of Rosamond. 

The doctrine of Rome teaches, that by baptism a person is made free, 
not only from the guilt of original sin, but also, from the guilt of all 
actual transgression, however enormous ; so that the desire of Manuel 
to baptize Rosamond, was by no means frivolous. He believed the doc- 
trine of his traditions, that all guilt is washed away in the laver of bap- 
tism, and he desired to make her happy, by opening to her the portals of 
heaven. He believed that without baptism she would die a heretic, and 
that she could not possibly escape the damnation of hell. How reason- 
able then, that he should make some effort, to procure so great an improve- 
ment of her eternal condition *? A small ceremony, an outward rite, 
was not too much to perform, to produce so wonderful a change. 

The ceremonies of the Romish baptism are numerous. The person 
is first catechised. The sponsors may answer, when the person cannot. 
He is then exorcised, by words of sacred import, and prayers, used to 
expel thedevil from him. Next, salt is put into his mouth, with much 
signification. The forehead, eyes, ears, breast, and shoulders, are 
signed with the sign of the cross. The nostrils and ears are touched 
with spittle. He is then taken to the font, anointed with oil, on th* 
breast and on the shoulders. After all this, with many questions In- 
terspersed, be is baptized either by immersion, or pouring, or sprinkling 



72 THE PRIESTS PAINT THEMSELVES. [Chap.* 

During the time that I was with Manuel, he took me to 
the theatres, masquerades, and gambling-houses, as it is 
customary for fashionable ladies there to visit all those 
places, and he gave me money to gamble with. 

He often gambled himself, but was not fortunate, ex- 
cept in the Convents. He would often tell me on coming 
from the gambling-table in the Convent, how he had lost 
money, or how he had won ; and how this Priest was 
angry, and another Priest had tried to cheat him ; and I 
have often heard one and another of the Priests speak of 
their success in gambling. 

In the day time, they are dressed in their Priestly 
habits; their head is shaved upon the crown, and round 
about the ears, by which, they have a ring of hair 
around their heads, and they disfigure their countenan- 
ces much. At night, they put on a citizen's dress, and 
wear a wig. 

They look deathly pale in their habits ; and when they 
put on a citizen's dress, they generally paint with rouge. 
Manuel Canto always painted, when he went to the 
theatre, or where the light was bright ; but when he rode, 
or walked in the citizen's dress, he did not paint. I could 
always see their countenance change to a solemn and 
ghostly expression, whenever they put on their habits. 
In a citizen's dress, that the change is so great, you would 
hardly know them. In this dress they can mix in places 
of iniquity, among the same persons, who go to them to 
hear Masses and to give in their Confessions. In the day 
time, to look upon them, you would take them to be 
Saints, by their dress and by their countenances. 

I had been living with him about a year, when I was 
taken again sick with the black vomit, and was thought 
by myself and others to be near to death. Now, for 
the first time, I was brought to see and feel my lost 

the water. The crown of his head is then anointed with oil of chrism, 
a white garment is put on him ; a burning candle is placed in his hand, 
and, lastly, his name is given, which ought to be that of some Saint, able 
to be the guardian of his life. So, Patrick is name enough for the Irish, 
but the Spaniards take the names of many Saints to protect a single 
child. — Cramp's Text Book of Popery, p. 133. 



IIL] DEATH-CANDLES. 73 

situation, so sensibly, that I knew, if I died, I should be 
Jost 

Manuel would never allow any, but the Convent phy- 
sicians, to attend me in my illness. Several physicians 
are attached to each Convent, and habited like the 
Priests. My Priest then tried to persuade me to be christ- 
ened, and to become a Christian ; for he told me, if I died 
as I was 9 I should surely go to hell. He brought several 
Priests to see me, and to persuade me, that if I would only 
consent to be anointed, and to become one of their per- 
suasion, I should then be a Christian and die happy. In 
all this, he appeared to be moved solely by a desire for 
my spiritual and everlasting good. i 

They sent for a Capuchin Priest, who belongs to St. 
Philip's Convent, whom they look upon to be more holy 
than any other. Those Priests, by their looks and dress, 
appear to be something more than natural beings of earth. 
Their heads are shorn in such a form, that you can per- 
ceive but very little of their hair. They wear their 
beards long. Their habits are made plain; a leathern 
belt is girded about them ; and three yards of beads hang 
around their necks, which they make use of in counting 
the Saints, when saying their prayers. That is, for every 
Saint they address a prayer to, they move a bead, and for 
every time they call on the same Saint, they also move a 
bead. Then the sum of their prayers is told by the num- 
ber of beads they have pushed along on the string. 

They wear no stockings, but half sandals. Those 
Priests were brought into my sick room, and death- 
candles lighted up, as they call them. These candles are 
very large, and one is placed at each of the four corners 
of the table. 

When I saw this, I soon lost my senses. At this time 
some of my American female friends came in, and ob- 
jected to my being christened. This caused a great con- 
fusion ; but they left me as they fcund me, only they 
frightened me out of my senses. 

But the Lord had mercy on me. and I was restored to 
my health again. 
7 



74 RECOVERS AGAIK FROM S1CKXE85, (CllSp 

I soon forgot that I had been brought so near to death, 
and entered again on the scene of amusements and 
wickedness with him. My conscience often told me thai. 
I w#s very wicked, and that I was committing a great sin 
in living with him as I did, I have often told him that 
when we died, we should both go to hell. He then would 
tell me, if I would be christened, and become of their per- 
suasion, I then should be a Christian } I then could go to 
the Virgin Mary with all my burden ; that she would re- 
lieve me ; that all Protestants would be lost ; that none 
would or could be saved, except those that belong to the 
Holy Catholic Church, But as ignorant as I was, I 
knew their religion could not save me. During this 
time he was very kind to me, and provided every thing 
for my comfort, but would not consent to my seeing any 
of my country people. His wish was, that my society 
should be amongst his country people. I was obliged to 
submit to his wishes ; for if you put yourself under their 
protection, you cannot gratify your own wishes, but must 
always gratify theirs. And by this time I was brought 
under his control entirely. I durst not think or do any 
thing without consulting with him first. 

I have often asked him if he did sincerely believe that 
he could forgive the sins of those that came to him to 
make Confession, and say Mass for them. On conversing 
seriously with him, he would tell me that he should try to 
save his own soul first, and then would do all that he 
could to save others ; that no one would be lost that be- 
longed to the Holy Catholic Church, ev r en though they 
should sin daily, if they would but goto the Virgin Mary, 
and beg for mercy.* 

* The famous Popish Cardinal Cajetan says, " Cessante scandalo," 
&c, "that the Virgin Mary can be worshiped with supreme adoration, 
only on account of her having touched, (the Savior,) provided it can 
be done without scandal. But the more modern Divines maintain, 
that she can be worshiped with supreme adoration, not only on account 
of her having touched the Savior, but also, on account of her mater- 
nity, inasmuch, as the same blood flowed through her veins as flowed 
through the Savior's." Vasq. L. I. Disp. 8, C. 1, N. 195, I9G. 

Their great St. Thomas Aquin, otherwise styled tfre Angelic Doc- 
tor, tells us also, that the " Cross of Christ is to be worshiped with the 



III.] MURDER TO PAY FOR MASSES. 75 

The Priests do lead the people so much in darkness, 
that if any commit murder, and only goes to one of the 
Priests, and takes with him a sum of money, and Con- 
fesses what he has done, they make him believe by their 
Masses and burning candles, that God will forgive the 
murder ; but let any criminal go to one without money, 
and the Priest will not hear him Confess ; without the re- 
quisite sum, he will go to hell. This drives criminals to 
new thefts and murders ; for I have known instances of 
the kind, and have seen arid heard Confessions by them, 
when on the gallows to be hung — that such and such a 
Priest was the cause of their death. They were not per- 
mitted to tell the Priest by name. They still die in the 
fear of the Priests ; for if they have any friends to give 
the Priests money, to buy candles, they are led to believe 
that the Priests by burning candles can light them 
through Purgatoryl This I have heard himself say, 
that they could not save them without money. In Cuba 
they think nothing of going to public executions. I have 
often attended. Sometimes a number would be hung 
every week. I have myself heard them, on the gallows, 
charge their crime on the Priests, always concealing their 
names, to purchase whose Masses and prayers they com- 
mitted the robbing and murder. And I have heard others, 
attending when I did not. tell of the convicts Confessing 
the same thing. 

It is natural for the Priests to be possessed of a jealous 
disposition. Manuel began to be unkind to me, but still 
provided every thing for my comfort. He would often 
have supper parties at my house, of other Priests, his 
friends, who would likewise bring their ladies with them, 
who were living with them in the same capacity. Among 
them were Father Antonia, Father Gabrilla, Father 

Zoda, with their ladies ; and Father Hosa. Father R , 

and Father Truman, were in the habit of visiting Father 
Canto familiarly at my house without their ladies. 
These last had their ladies, and I knew them, and met 

same adoration with Christ, that is, with the adoration of latriae, supreme 
worship*" Thorn. Aquin 1IL dues. 25, Art 4.— Ed. 



J6 CANDLES TO TORMENT WITH. [Chap. 

them at home, and at the gambling-houses, and at the 
masquerades. Father Senor, Father Varela, and others^ 
visited often at my house. The Priests never call one 
another Father, but always, Canto, Antonia, &c. I will 
not be sure that I spell their names right, but I can pro- 
nounce them right, and tell the Convent to which each 
one belonged. Canto belonged, as I have said, to St 
Francisco Convent, so did R and Hosa. Senor be- 
longed to the Cathedral, St. Catalina. Antonia belonged 
to St. Domingo Convent, Gabrilla belonged to St. Clare, 
Zoda belonged to St. Wanadou. 

The Priests are very partial to foreigners, as they say 
it is not so much sin, as to take their own countrywomen, 
because Americans are of a fairer complexion, and of 
more virtuous habits, and more pardonably tempting 
than the natives of the island. They admit it. that the 
Virgin Mary will have more mercy on them, for the 
temptation by foreigners is greater j and I have been told 
by respectable persons, that they can put all the curses of 
the sin on the woman's head that lives with them, by say- 
ing Masses, and burning candles on her head. 

Any one can go to the Convents, and buy those candles 
of the Priests, to try malediction, as the Priestcraft 
term it. 

If a young lady is desirous of gaining the affections of 
any gentleman, she will go to the Priest, with a sum of 
money. He will sell her those candles, and bless them 
too,- that in burning them she may gain a victory. And 
they have other candles to sell you, if you want to tor- 
ment any one, or to set any one crazy with love. The 
malediction candles are not burned in the Saint's pre- 
sence, or before their images ; that would be sin ; but 
they burn them in small rooms by themselves. The 
red candles usually have nine new pins stuck in each, in 
the form of the Cross. The Priests instruct them how to 
place the pins, which are the common pins, only they 
must be new. 

Their rule is, to burn them nine days and nights,, and 
nine Masses are to be said, on that individual This I 



III.] DELUSIONS OF PRIESTCRAFT. 77 

do know to be the fact, that they deal with Priestcraft; 
and, in that way, make their people so much afraid of 
them. Seeing so much of their wickedness and Priest- 
craft, was one thing that led me to see my lost situa- 
tion. 

7* 



78 ATTACKED BY ROBBERS, [Chap 



CHAPTER IV. 

u Cautious and swift the Indian went, 

" His head was raised, his bow w T as bent ? 

" And as he ? like a wild deer, sped, 

"- So light, so silent, was his tread, 

" That scarce a leaf was seen to move, 

" Of flower below, or branch above."" 

Miss L. M. Davidson. 

Rosamond attacked in her house bf robbers. — Wounded and supposed to be 
dead. — One robber hilled. — Another taken. — His punishment. — Loses 
her senses under the shock from Manuel's entering her room. — She reco- 
vers, and removes to another house. — Learns who sent the robbers to he? 
house. — Altars of private devotion to ihe Struts. 

I had been living in Havanna about three months r 
when on the third of October, 1828, at seven o'clock in 
the evening of a rainy day, I was assailed by the robbers 
in my house. I was alone sitting in my boittak. or 
Havanna armed chair, at the window, looking into the 
street. My servant girl, Sarah, had put the front door a 
jar, on her way to the grocer's, and then turned back for 
a few moments, to the yard. As she re-entered the back 
door, three ruffians entered the front door, throwing it 
wide open upon its hinges. The first that entered was a 
white man, who flew and seized me by the throat, and 
presented a knife to my breast ; while a black seized the 
colored girl, and presented a knife to her breast, and a 
mulatto guarded the front door, walking to and fro. I 
screamed aloud ; for, at the first sight, I knew they were 
robbers. The Commissaries, with the city guards, are 
not usually stationed before half past seven or eight 
o'clock ; and at seven is the hour of evening prayers, or 
oration in the Convents, when the Convent bells ring, and 
the Priests must all be in their Convents j and when the 
devout or even formal Roman Catholics, in their houses. 
or in the streets, riding or walking, stop ; or, sitting and 
eating, rise up, and Cross themselves, and offer a prayer. 
And this hour of common devotion, is the precise time 
for the robbers to be on the alert. 




ROSAMOND attacked by ROBBERS. 



T. 78. 



IV.] ATTACKED BY ROBBERS. 79 

I could not understand Spanish, and the robbers did 
not understand English. My servant begged of them for 
me, and begged of me, to cease screaming, or they would 
certainly kill us both, and to give them what money I 
had, and they would leave the house. My servant could 
speak three languages, and she pleaded with them for our 
lives, while I cried murder ! help ! robbers ! But all my 
crying was of no avail ; for when the robbers make an 
attack, all the neighbors close their shutters and doors, 
and no one dares to come to your assistance. There is 
but little chance of any one's coming to your assistance, 
because they fear to be taken for the robbers themselves. 
They do not open the shutters again until the robbers 
have fled, or have been secured. And the custom of the 
place is, not to cry an alarm, or make any noise, when at- 
tacked by robbers, but silently to give them what money 
you have, in the confident expectation that if you do this, 
they will spare your life ; but that if you make an out- 
cry they will kill you. I had not yet learned the customs 
of the place. 

Seeing the shutters of the neighbors all closed, and 
myself all a gore of blood, I asked my servant what we 
should do — if they were going to kill us. She said, no, if 
I would not halloo any more, and would give them what 
money I had. For the robber had removed my left ear- 
ring ; and in his effort to take out the right hand one, he 
was embarrassed by the spring ; and when I raised my 
hand, to take it out for him, and I saw my hand and arm 
were covered with blood, I shrieked, O, do come ! he has 
killed me ! so loud, that it is said I was heard to the Place 
de Amos, which was distant several squares. He rent 
out the ear-ring, tearing it through the flesh ; and I 
found myself stabbed in my mouth, in my side, and in 
my hand.* I did not know when I received these 

* The scars of these four wounds which she received upon this occa- 
sion, are now distinctly seen upon her body. Her right ear is slit bv 
the wrenching oat of the ring, the length of about onelhird of an inch. 
The other scars are about an inch long. One is on the right side of 
her cheek, near her mouth ; one on the right hand ; and another on her 
side. — Ed. 



80 RESCUED BY THE COMMISSARIES. [Chap. 

wounds, but the flowing blood made me think I was 
surely killed. Then, for the first time, I thought of call- 
ing on my God for help ; and I cried : Lord ! have mercy 
on me ! for I felt that I was going in a moment to eter- 
nity. Instantly I was calm, — I stopped crying, — and it did 
appear to me, as if God was with me. I went readily 
into the next room, the robber still holding me fast by the 
throat, and I gave him what money I had in the house. 
I became perfectly resigned, and expected every moment 
to be launched into eternity. 

By this time the Commissaries came. A noise was 
heard in the front room. The robber let go his grasp on 
my throat, and ran. In passing oat, he wounded the 
Commissary who stood guard at the door, while the sol- 
diers had pursued the two other robbers. The white rob- 
ber came unexpectedly upon the Commissary, who sup- 
posed there were but two robbers in the assault ; and the 
wound he gave the Commissary, enabled that robber to 
escape. But the mulatto was stabbed and killed by one 
of the soldiers in pursuit, and the black was taken. I 
have seen the end of the soldier's sword, which was 
broken off in the body of the slain mulatto. 

After they had left the house, I heard my servant girl 
crying in the street, " they have killed my Mistress !" — 
She escaped unhurt into the street, as soon as the robbers 
had gone. I ran towards the sound of her voice, and fell 
senseless to the ground in the middle of the street. 

Here no one dared to lift me up, until the head Com- 
missary and a Physician were called. The crowd 
gathered round, supposing, from the quantity of blood, 
that I was dead. But after the Commissary and the Sur- 
geon came, I was removed into my house, and my 
wounds were dressed. 

These robbers neither put out the lights of my house, 
nor shut the door, nor shutters ; and people were passing 
in the street all the time. But in Havanna, the people 
will neither stop, nor gather in a crowd, nor look round, 
if there is a robber in the way. One American lady saved 
herself, when her house was assailed by robbers, by going 



IV.] MODE OP WHIPPING CRIMINALS. 81 

upon the roof, and crying fire ! fire ! This brought the 
people out, and the robbers fled ; when, if she had cried 
" Robbers /" every door and window shutter would have 
been closed, and the robbers would have plundered the 
house, and perhaps murdered the mistress. 

The black robber who was taken in the attack on my 
house, was put in prison, and kept until his trial. Then 
he was condemned, and sentenced to be exposed half 
naked on a mule, and whipped at the corners of the prin- 
cipal streets, and afterwards to be sent five years to the 
Spanish mines. 

The mode of whipping is this. — The criminal is taken 
by the Commissary, and placed on a mule, on a wooden 
saddle. The Commissaries and their soldiers walk on 
either side. The multitude follows behind, to see the 
whipping. At every corner of the street, where the Com- 
missary passes, he stops the mule, rings a bell, and pro- 
claims the crime of the convict, and then he strikes him 
on 'the naked back, one blow, with an instrument resem- 
bling, in shape, a common hand- card for carding cotton 
or wool. It is full of sharp iron points, which at every 
stroke make the blood flow. After the one blow, he drives 
on to the next corner, and there repeats the same cere 
mony. 

After I was relieved, and my wounds were dressed, my 
Priest came. He was in his Convent at the time the rob- 
bery happened. As soon as he entered my room, I lost 
my reason. I remained in this situation three months. 
In this time, I was removed to a friend's house, Mrs. 
A T 's, a Spanish lady, where Manuel pro- 
vided for me every thing to make me comfortable. It was 
said that he was kind to me, and mourned much about 
me. This became all public, up to the governor, and 
down to the lowest class, who I was, and who I was liv- 
ing with. It excited more attention, on account of my 
being a foreigner, and of my living with a well known 
and respected Priest. 

At the time that I was brought to my reason, which 
was three months after, then I was brought to see what a 



82 WICKEDNESS OF MANUEL, [Chap. 

sinner I was, and what wicked people I was living with, 
I then told him, that 1 could never go to live with him 
again ; that it was more wicked for me to live with him, 
than if I was with any one else. I felt so ; for I "knew that 
he was very wicked, and have often told him, that when 
we died, we should both go to hell ; that their religion 
could not save them. 

He replied, that it was not so dangerous to the soul, to 
live with him, as with a common citizen ; for if I would 
become a Catholic, he would save my soul ; but unless I 
became a true Catholic, neither he could do any thing for 
me, nor could any of his friends. 

I then thought to myself, if I was only a Christian ! — 
Oh, the sound of the voice of a Christian ! And would 
often think and say, if I could only go and find some 
Christian, to go to tell them how I felt ! For I knew it 
was the mercies of God, that saved my life, and rescued 
me from the wicked hands of those robbers : and I felt 
and knew that if I persevered in my way of living, that I 
should be lost, not only in this world, but through eternity 
for ever and ever. Oh ! I can well remember those feel- 
ings ; and they still make me shudder, when I see how 
near my feet were in the gulf of wo ; and to see how 
much mercy the Lord has had for me, and what he has 
done for me, O, that I may always lay at the feet of 
Jesus, and have it always in view, how much the Lord has 
done for me ! 

It was not my wish to live with him again ; but as I 
have said, when you put yourself under their protection, 
it is not so easy to leave the Priests, as one might think ; 
and I was brought into so much fear of him, that I felt 
like a criminal in his presence. After I recovered, I did 
not return to live in the same house, but Manuel provided 
another one, No. 16 Cuille, O' Havanna, for which I paid 
Si ounces, or about $59. 

My girl was so terrified by the robbers, that she would 
never return again to live with me. 

Shortly after this, I was informed how and why I was 
attacked by the robbers, and I had every reason to believe 



lV e J HER FEAR OF MANUEL. 83 

it to be true. The person who informed me, was a Spanish 
officer's wife, who was then living next door to me. She 
appeared to feel much for my lost situation, and often 
urged me to leave him, telling me how wicked it was to 
live with one of the Priests ; that he could pray for all the 
curses of the sin upon my head, and that God would have 
no mercy on me. 

When I told Manuel of this, I was obliged, through 
fear, to tell him my author ; for, although I knew it to be 
true, I also knew, that if I lost his friendship, I would be 
undone and lost myself, since I had no kind friend where 
to find a shelter. 



" O ! that I had a faithful friend, 

" To tell my secrets to, 
" On whose advice I might depend, 

" In every thing I do ! 

" How do I wander up and down, 

" And no one pities me ! 
11 1 seem a stranger quite unknown, 

" A child of misery." 



The Spanish officer's wife informed me, that I was at- 
tacked by the robbers by the direction of a Spanish lady, 
who was the wife of a certain marquis belonging to the 
nobility, with whom Manuel had been intimate for a 
number of years before I had become acquainted with 
him. This lady had an independent fortune, and kept a 
private altar of the Saints in one of her rooms for her own 
devotions. It is customary for all the nobility, to have 
their altars and Saints, for worship in their houses ; and 
also for the Priest to go to their houses, to hear their Con- 
fessions. This Priest of mine was her favorite Priest, and 
she had supported him, and supplied all his wants of 
money, which he bestowed on me and on others ; and in 
those countries it costs not a little to live. This lady had 
learned that he was living with me, he paying his visits 
to her daily, as her Priest, in the eyes of her husband and 



84 HER FEAR OF MANUEL. [Chap. 

family. Her jealousy and her wicked heart, had hired 
these robbers to attack me ; but through the mercies of the 
Lord. I was delivered out of their hands. It was some- 
time after I heard this, before I had strength or resolution 
through fear to tell him. 




MASQUERADE BALL. 



ZS5. 



V.J MAS&UERADES. 95 



CHAPTER V. 



s *He stood on Sinai, wrapped in storm clouds, wild 
"His loose locks streamed around him, and his eye 
" Flashed indignation on a world defiled 
" With sense and slavery, who lost the high 
"Prerogative of power and spirit, by 
"Their longings for their flesh-pots. O, 'tis lust, 
" Which robs us of our freedom, makes us lie 
" Wallowing in willing wretchedness." 

Percival. 



Masquerades. — The habit of attending . — The wealth of the people of Ha- 
vanna. — Their silent stab.— Their stilling hiss. — Their calling hiss. — 
The mockery of the Priests in Masks. — ManueVs remark on his habit. — 
His urging Rosamond to pray to the Virgin for good luck. — Their uni- 
versal superstition. 

Every Sunday evening in Havanna, and often on 
other days of the week, there is a public masquerade ball, 
to which all go, who will pay their admission dollar, and 
behave civilly in their way. Sometimes a thousand 
people attend in the several saloons ; people of the gen- 
teel class, from the Governor and Priests, down to the 
poor gentleman. I was not regular in my attendance at 
the Mass-house on the Sabbath-day, but was punctual, on 
that day, at the masquerades ; and so was Manuel.* The 

* Plays are allowed by the Church of Rome on the Sabbath, "Be- 
cause," (as Ligori teaches,) " they are for the recreation of the mind, 
and by way of rest from servile labor." Ligor. TheoL de. 3. Prac. 
Dec. C. i. 

They do not stop here, but advance so far in iniquity as to teach, 
that " the commandment to sanctify the Sabbath, does not oblige us to 
worship God in Spirit.'' 1 This, Saint Ligori attempts to prove, by quo- 
tations from a multitude of their best divines ; and, among the rest, he 
quotes the Angelical St. Thomas, who says, that " we are not bound to 
worship God interiorly by this commandment." Thorn. I. 2. GL. 122. C. 4. 
" The same doctrine," (he says,) " is taught in the Roman Cate- 
chism." Ligor. de 3. Prac. Dec. C. 1. N. 264. " Hunting, hawking, 
fishing, are allowed on the Sabbarh." Id. N. 283; — also, " merchandiz- 
ing, and selling goods at auction, is allowed." " It is also permitted on 
the Lord's Day," (says this same great Saint Ligori,) " to sell liquor 

AND EATABLES, EVEN TO THE MAKING OF THOSE WHO BUY DRUNK ; alsO, tO 

sell shoes, candles, and such like things, likewise houses, horses, and 
merchandize, these are all allowed," — (and behold his reasons!!) 

8 



86 price of masks, [Chap, 

chief expense of attendance, was in the hiring of the 
dresses for the different evenings, and in the cost of re- 
freshments, suppers, and gambling at these balls. The 
cost of a common mask-dress, for an evening, is four dol- 
lars, and from a dollar to a dollar and a half, tor the mask. 
For any stylish dress 7 the cost is half, or three quarters, or 
a whole doubloon, or mmce r as they call it. An ounce of 
gold in Havanna, is no more than an ounce of silver here 
in the expenses of the people, They think little more of 
a doubloon, than we do of a dollar. 

Foreigners, strangers^ and sometimes ladies, appear 
without masks. Manuel and other Priests used to fre- 
quent the balls and gambling-rooms, (which latter are in 
saloons, opening from the ball-rooms,) in a citizen's dress 
without a mask.* He used to give me money for gam- 
bling, as he was unfortunate in the crambliiw-houses him- 
self. In the Convents he was more successful ; but he 
never was vexed if I lost, even though it were twenty dol- 
lars of an evening ; for I paid up my losses when I won, 
and kept the money, if any thing was over, 

" both because by use, the timid and scrupulous are brought to bear it; 
and also, because the Church only prohibits selling in public shops on 
account of the scandal." Ligor, TheoL de 3. Praee. Dec. Dub, 1. N. 286, 

P. S. — The above seems almost incredible ; — but I am willing to 
prove the correctness of these quotations before the whole United 
States. The authority of this Saint, not a Popish Priest dare dispute, 
—Ed. 

* Capt. J. E, Alexander in his " Transatlantic Sketches," testifies, 
that the Priests in the West India Islands pass much of their time in 
gambling, cock-fighting, and bull-baiting. Vol. I. p. 339. " Many of 
the country Padres" (Holy Fathers,) says he, "are excessively idle, 
and openly vicious, and a perfect disgrace to the Church." Id, ib. " I 
heard," (continues he,) c; a liberal Ecclesiastic lament over the sins of 
his brethren, and regret that marriage was not permitted in the Church. 
Many of the Padres have a handsome Niece to keep their houses in 
order; but it is better this, than exciting the jealousy of husbands." 

" What respect," (exclaims the same writer.) "can a Clergy be held 
in, when they are too often bold and eager gamblers ! From Mass, 
they go to the cock-pit ; and from the cock-pit to Mass j and sometimes 
delay the Mass to see the end of a fight. They might be seen at Gna- 
nabacoa, in full Canonicals, watching with intense interest, a combat 
between a favorite cock and that of a negro slave, who had staked 
his money against that of the unworthy Priest." — Transatlantic 
Sketches, Vol. I. p. 340.— Ed. 



V.] MANUEL IN A WOMAN'S DRESS. 87 

When any man attending the ball, in his passion at a 
loss, or at an attempt. to cheat, draws his knife, and stabs 
another, he does it without a word of alarm, or any noise. 
The dealers of the cards do not stop, nor does a female 
scream. The only notice taken of the act, by the com- 
pany present, is, that every one places his fore-finger 
across his lips, shuts his teeth, and blows a long stilling ' 
hiss; as much as to say,— Ji never mention it ?' — and the 
soldiers, who are always in attendance, take the hostile 
parties out, and all things are as if nothing violent had 
occurred.* 

This gentle hiss is a common one in Havanna, for 
many purposes. If one would stop a friend passing in 
the street, he never speaks or calls his name, walking or 
riding., but breathes short hisses, to obtain his attention. 
But the hiss of silence is long and gentle, with the finger 
placed on the lips in token of silence. 

The life of the masquerade, depends on the novelty of 
the characters assumed by different persons, and the 
spirit with which each one sustains his character. Ma- 
nuel used to be very fond of appearing in the character of 
a lady. It is no matter that he is known for a man, if 
only be plays well the woman's part Oftentimes, people 
would appear in the habits of the Priests, and make great 
diversion of the long visages of the Father Confessors. It 
always disturbed the Priests very much, to see themselves 
played off in Crossing, Confessing, and absolving the va- 
rious penitents that were readily found in the ball-room. 
The Priests, when the imitation would be fine, were al- 
ways very much distressed at it. They thought it wicked 
in the extreme, but they never thought it wicked to be 

* This same bloody disposition is conspicuous wherever Popery do- 
mineers. Petrarch, the celebrated Popish writer, speaking of the man- 
ner of the people of Naples, in Italy, says, that " thev kill one another 
at the public games, for mere diversion. To these barbarous spectacles, 
the people run in crowds, and shout, and rejoice at the sight of human 
blood. Kings, prinees, and even ladies, are amused by it." (Life of 
Petrare'h, in a Letter to Cardinal Colonna.) 

•Capt. J. E. Alexander tells us, that " all the inhabitants of Cuba go 
armed.-, such is the lawless state of society in that place, aujourd'hui" 
— > Transatlantic Sketches, Vol. I. p. 37L— Ej>* 



88 THE PRIESTS ARE MOCKED. [Chap. 

themselves present. I have known them so much excited 
by the fairness of the mask in their own character, that 
they would gather together, and chafe away the pleasure 
of the whole evening in view of the perfect imitation of 
themselves, and in planning how to discover who wore 
the mask. They would say one to another, glancing an 
eye to the mask, " Vll mark ye /" and would follow him 
home, and sometimes get a sight of him after his mask 
was oiF. What revenge they took, I never knew ; but 
no Spanish Priest would fail to have it, in some form or 
other, of any one against whom he entertained a grudge. 

Their Alcowaters will do any thing for them that they 
are bid to do. Be the sin what it may, they believe that 
the Priests can and will absolve them from it. 

The masquerades are kept up all night. Those go 
home who choose, at an early hour ; but the saloons are 
not closed until daylight. In the midst *of preparation 
for these scenes, I have sometimes asked Manuel, if he 
did not think it was wicked for a Priest to engage in 
them. He would take his habit by a fold between his 
thumb and finger, and extending it from him, reply, 
u Why, Rosetta," (for so he always called me,) " this habit 
cannot change our feelings, we have the same feelings 
with other men." 

In the course of the day previous to going to the mas- 
querades, while talking together of the expected pleasures 
of the evening, he would tell me, I must pray for good 
fortune at the gambling-table ; that I must make a for- 
tune this night; and I must pray to the Virgin Mary 
through the day, and bear her on my heart, with con- 
stant prayers for good fortune at night. Whenever he 
told me this, it was not done laughing, but in serious- 
ness ; and if I had bad luck upon it, he would tell me, 
it was because I was a poor Protestant at heart. I did 
not know what a Protestant meant, and he would get 
angry with me, because he said I knew, and would not 
tell him, all that Protestants believe, and how they wor- 
ship, and what our ministers do in the churches. But 
this one thing I always noticed, that when he told me ; 




MA,S QUE RAD E SUP] 






V,] HOLY WATER, AND PEPPER AND SALT. 89 

that he had what he called a forerunner of my good luck - 
at gambling-, I was almost sure to lose ; so that 1 learned 
to stop him, when prophesying" good fortune, and to 
charge him not to spoil my prospects. 

People here may not believe we could be so supersti- 
tious, but it is true every word of it ; and, in Havanna, 
all are superstitious. Those who do not use Priestcraft, 
will use sorcery ; and those that refuse to sprinkle Holy 
Water, for keeping off bad luck, will yet sprinkle salt and 
pepper, to keep it off, especially if a Priest had been in 
the house : for the Roman Catholics all use Holy Water,* 
and the Protestants, living in sin, often use salt and pep- 
per, to resist evil spirits : so accustomed are all classes to 
superstitious ceremonies of one kind or another in Ha- 
vanna. 

And it is not only so in Havanna. The superstitious ob- 
servances of the Roman Catholics are much the same in 
all the world, I fear. In the "Six months in a Con- 
vent," published at Boston, Mass., it is written, that in 
order to keep off the assaults of the Devil : " I must watch 
and pray all the time, and banish entirely worldly thoughts 
from my mind, and throw Holy Water at. the evil spirits, 
and challenge them to come if they dare. Perceiving the 
unpleasant effect this had on my feelings, he (the bishop of 
Boston,) portrayed, in lively colors, the happiness which 
would flow from my resisting the evil spirits, and what a 
crown of glory would be placed on my head by the 
Angels." 

The music and dancing at the masquerade ball is kept 
constantly going from eight o'clock, when the saloons 
open, to the end. A full band is kept playing, and the 
company are all assembled by ten o'clock. There are 
rooms joining the masquerade room, furnished with every 
variety of meats, fruits, drinks, and confectionary, for the 

* " Ah ! nimium faciles, qui tristia crimina coedis, 
"Flumina tolli posse putelis aqua." Ovid. Fast. 2. 45. 

11 Ah ! easy fools, to think that a whole flood 

" Of water e'er can purge the stain of blood." — Ed. 

8* 



90 FROM THE DANCE TO THE PROMENADE. [Chap, 

persons who attend the balls. Manuel used to decline the 
dance altogether. Other Priests danced, but he never 
did. And he often drew me from the dancing-rooms, to 
the promenade, where they walk, and sport, and joke ; 
and he preferred most of all, to be with me in the gam- 
bling-rooms. 



VI.] DESCRIPTION OP CUBA. 91 



CHAPTER VI. 



"The supplicating hand of innocence ; — 

11 That made the tiger mild, and in his wrath 

" The lion pause ; the groans of suffering most 

"Severe, were nought to Popish Bigotry ; she laughed at groans ; 

" No music pleased her more, and no repast 

"So sweet to her, as blood of men." Pollok. 



PRELIMINARY. 

We here introduce a chapter on the Island of Cuba, taken from the 
" Encyclopedia Americana," that the reader may have some genera! 
idea of the country, in which the events related in this Narrative oc- 
curred ; and for the sake of the correlative testimony which it bears 
to that of the authoress. 



Geographical description of Cuba. — Animals. — Soil. — Vegetable Produc- 
tions. — Minerals. — The Spaniards exterminate the Aborigines of the 
Island. — The Chief tain put to death for refusing to be baptized. — Cor- 
rupt morals of the people. — Ignorance of the Clergy. — Cockfights. — 
Bull-baits. — Gambling. — Murde'rs frequent. — Description of Havanna. 
— Religion a mere show. — The shrine of Columbus. 

Cuba is the largest and most westerly of the Antilles. 
Its configuration, extent, geographical position, great 
number of ports, fertility, and climate, contribute to ren- 
der it an interesting country. Its length, from Cape St. 
Antonio to Point Maisi, in a direction from W. S. W. 
to E. N. E. and then from W. N. W. to E. S. E., 
is 257 leagues, and its greatest width, in the direc 
tion north to south, is 38 leagues. The learned geo- 
grapher, Don Felipe Bausa, calculated in June. 1825, 
that the surface of Cuba contained 3615 square marine 
leagues. Cuba is situated between longitude 73° 56' 
and 85° W., and between latitude 19° 48' 30" and 23° 
12' 45" N. It lies 14 leagues west from Cape Nicolas, 
in the Island of St. Domingo, 34 south from Point Mo- 
rant, in Jamaica, and 37 south from Cape Florida. 

The gulf of Mexico, which is very nearly of a circular 
form, of more than 250 leagues in circumference, is closed 
by the Island of Cuba, with the exception of two narrow 
passages, the one to the south, between Cape Catoche 



92 GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION. [Chap. 

and Cape St .Antonio, and the other to the north, between 
Bahia Honda :w\(\ the Florida shoals. Along the const o( 
Cuba, are tetany keys and small islands, which are inclu- 
ded in the s;unc government with the large island. The 
navigation of the roust is very unsafe, on account of the 
rocks and shoals which encompass it almost without in- 
terruption, and often extend from two to three miles into 
the sea. The broken outline of this vast extent of const, 
however, affords men 4 fh;in fifty ports and anchoring 
places, which are equally safe ana easy o( ncrcss. The 
most remarkable, in a commercial point of view, are those 
of Havanna, Matanzas, Nuevit^s, Jibara, and Baracoa, on 
the north; Si. Jago, Mtanzanillo, Trinidad, Jagua, and 
Batabano, on the south side o\ the island. There is 
another port between Manzanillo and Trinidad, called 
Santa Cn^r, which, in February, 1829, was declared a 
free port, and which, undoubtedly, will ho much fre- 
quented, furnishing great facilities for trading with Puerto 
Principe, (the second cityofCuba, in point ol population,) 
being the only ^hm\ harbor in the vicinity of the south 
side of the island, and distant from it but twenty leagues. 
A ridge of mountains traverses the whole of the island. 
from Hie east tothe west, dividing it into t wo parts. At the 
foot of these, the country opens into extensive savannas. 
\ considerable number o( small streams from these 

heights, water the island on hoth sides. These streams 

abound in fish of different kinds, and are said to bring 
down considerable quantities of ^old. There are like- 
wise many Sail }>onds. which furnish abundance of lish 
and game; also, several springs of mineral water, which 
have proved very useful for the cure o\ many diseases. 

The island is very rich in minerals, particularly in cop- 
per, iron, and loadstone, In 1813, some persons endea- 
vored to work a mine which they found near the city of 

Trinidad, and from which they obtained good gold and 
Silver. They were, however, obliged, from want o\ funds, 
to desist, though it was highly probable that, with a suffi- 
cient capital, it would have been made profitable. Vox 

the same reason, together with the want of protection 



VI.] SOIL — CLIMATE ANIMALS, &C. 93 

from government, a very rich mine of coal, which was 
opened in 1810, near Kacuranao, was abandoned. In 
1827, a silver mine was discovered} yielding 7-5thsof 
pure silver to a quintal of ore. Loadstone is found in the 
mountains of Paragua, and on the northern coast. 

Marbles of various kinds, serpentine, chalcedony, of excel- 
lent quality, quartz, mineral bitumen, &C, are likewise 
found in the island. Our knowledge of the geological 
and mineralogical structure of Cuba, however, is compa- 
ratively small, on aeeount of" the thiekness of the forests, 

and the asperity of the mountains, particularly on the 
eastern) part. * 

The soil of Cuba is so productive, that it yields two, 

and even three crops of eorn in a year. The fields, dur- 
ing the whole year, are covered with aromatic plants and 
trees in blossom. The ('lunate is dry and warm. It 

never freezes, not even on the highest mountains. 

The coasts of the island are well known to be un- 
healthy; hut this is not the case with tin; mountains 
Among the animals indigenous to the island or the sur 
rounding sea, are the; cayiuan, or alligator, fehe majrati or 
sea cow, the iguana, (a species of lizard,) the turtle, &c. 

Many of the domestic animals of Europe, have also been 

introduced. A gr£at number of swine, and also of bees, 
are raised. Birds are numerous, The rivers, though 

they have but a short eourse, and are deficient in water, 

abound, at certain seasons, with excellent fish. Reptiles 

are extremely numerous. 

The vegetable kingdom of Cuba is extremely rich. 
Here are to be found, the mahogany tree, the cedar, lig* 

nuiu vila', various kindsof ebony, besides numerous woods 

suitable for building houses, ships, &c; and also palm- 
trees, among which the palfna real, is remarkable for die. 

utility of every part to man and various animals; sarsa- 
parilla, and many Other plants useful in medicine; also, 
the chestnut, the pine apple, the annana or custard apple, 

the medlar, plantain, orange, and various kinds of melons. 
Among the agricultural plants, maize is the most impor- 
tant; rice, beans, peas, garbdnzo$ ) are also cultivated. 



94 MORALS OF THE SPANIARDS. [Chap. 

The culture of wheat is abandoned. The true riches of 
the country consist in its great articles of export, sugar, 
coffee, tobacco, wax, cacao, molasses, rum, maize, &c. 

The trade of Cuba is carried on chiefly through Ha- 
vanna, its capital. The island is subject to the kins: of 
Spain. It is divided into two Ecclesiastical jurisdictions, 
the one governed by an Archbishop, who resides at St. 
Jagx). the other one by a Bishop, who resides at Ha- 
vanna. 

Education is in a very low state. The morals of the 
people are loose ; the police is weak or inactive: murders 
are frequent. The laws are very numerous and contradic- 
tory, and much bribery and corruption prevail in the ad- 
ministration of justice. In 1S21. the importation of 
slaves was prohibited by law; and, though it is yet car- 
ried on. and tolerated by the authorities of Cuba, in spite 
of the laws against it, there is no doubt that it has dimin- 
ished a great deal, in consequence of the efforts and vigi- 
lance of the English cruisers. The emancipation of Co- 
lumbia, Mexico, and the Spanish part of St. Domingo, 
has brought to Cuba almost all the Spaniards who were 
settled in those countries, together with many of the 
Creoles. The population of Cuba, according to the cen- 
sus of 1S27, was 311,051 whites, and 393436 blacks. 

Cuba was discovered in 1492, by Christopher Colum- 
bus. In 1511, Don Diego Velasquez sailed from St. Do- 
mingo, with four vessels, and about 300 men, for the con- 
quest of the island. He landed on the 25th of July, near 
the bay of St. Jago, to which he gave its name. The 
native?, commanded by the Cacique Hatuey, who had fled 
from St. Domingo, his native country, on account of the 
cruelty of the Spaniards, in vain endeavored to oppose the 
progress of the invaders. The noise of fire-arms was 
sufficient to disperse the poor Indians. Hatuey was taken 
prisoner and condemned to be burned alive, which sen- 
tence was executed after he had refused to be baptized. 
This diabolical act filled all the other Caciques with tei- 
ror, and they hastened to pay homage to Velasquez, who 
met with no* more opposition. The conquest of Cuba did 



VI.] GAMING — COCK-FIGHTS — BULL-BAITS. 95 

not cost the Spaniards a single man. The conquerors 
not finding the mines sufficiently rich to induce them 
to work them, gradually exterminated the natives, whom 
they could not employ. 

Havanna, the capital of Cuba, contains 112 thousand 
inhabitants. It is the residence of a captain-general, and 
the See of a Bishop. It is the most important commer- 
cial port in Spanish America, and is considered as the key 
of the West Indies. The harbor is not only the best in 
the island, but is esteemed by many as the best in the 
world, on account of its strength, and because it is ca- 
pable of containing commodiously 1000 ships, without 
either cable or anchor, there being generally six fathoms 
of water in the bay. The entrance into the harbor is by 
a narrow channel, about 1000 feet wide at its entrance, 
so difficult of access, that only one vessel can enter at a 
time. It is strongly fortified. The city stauds on a plain 
on the west side of the harbor. The streets are, in general, 
narrow, crooked, unpaved, and dirty. The want of com- 
mon sewers, and of cleanliness, and the vicinity of marsh- 
es, contribute to the insalubrity of the city, which is much 
exposed to the ravages of the yellow fever. Havanna 
contains eleven churches, which are magnificently orna- 
mented, especially the cathedral, with gold and silver 
lamps, images, &c. There are seven Monasteries, and 
four Nunneries, a theatre, a place for bull-fights, and two 
agreeable promenades. The houses are almost all of one 
story, and of a Gothic structure. The principal ones are 
built of stone, and covered with terraces, having large 
apartments, yet little ornamented. The great square is 
one of the principal ornaments of the city. The morals 
of the place are loose. Gaming, cock-fighting, &c, are 
carried on to a great extent. The customs are Spanish. 
Foreigners who go there, seldom intermarry with the na- 
tives, as they rarely intend to make Havanna their per- 
manent residence. 

The lower Clergy are ignorant, and the ceremonies of 
religion are surrounded with a puerile show. The Ha- 
vanna has the honor of containing the bones of Colum- 



96 THE REMAINS OF COLUMBUS. [Chap. 

bus, the illustrious discoverer of America. In consequence 
of an order contained in the Will of Columbus, his body 
was removed from the Carthusian Convent of Seville, and 
deposited, along with the chains with which he had been 
loaded at Cuba, on the right of the high altar of the ca- 
thedral of St. Domingo. His body, in a brass coffin, was 
removed to Havanna on the 19th of January, 1796. His 
bones are now preserved in a silver urn on the left of the 
altar of the cathedral. 

This description of Havanna, and the manners and 
customs of the people, will throw some light on the Nar- 
rative of the authoress, whose important and interesting 
disclosures we now lay before the public. 



VIL] MANUEL SENT TO PUERTO PRINCIPE. 97 



CHAPTER VII. 

"Most guilty, villanous, dishonest man ! 
Wolf in the clothing of the gentle lamb ! 
Dark traitor in Messiah's holy camp ! 
Leper in saintly garb ! — assassin masked 
In virtue ; s robe! Vile hypocrite accursed! 
I strain in vain to set his evil forth, 
The words that should sufficiently accurse 
And execrate such reprobate, had need 
Come glowing from the lips of eldest hell." 

POLLOK. 

Manuel is sent to Puerto Principe. — Is accompanied by Rosamond, and 
his Alcowater, a pimp. — Alcowaters kept in atl the Convents. — The poor 
bum pitch-pine to the Virgin Mary, instead of Candles. — Manuel be- 
comes jealous of the Alcowater. — ManueVs tricks with Rosamond. — Ma- 
nuel seduces the daughter of his host. — The Priests' oath or Hoorie. — 
Mode of doing penance. — The paying of money for the forgiving oj 
sins.— Manuel sends Rosamond back to Havanna, who being chased by 
Pirates, has to put in at Matanzas. 

Manuel had orders from the Bishop, to go to Puerto 
Principe, on the south eastern part of the Island of Cuba, 
and the seat of justice for the Island. As he would nov 
consent to leave me behind, fearing, I believe, that in hit 
absence, I should escape from the Island, this arrange 
ment was made : — he hired an old man, who was an Al 
cmvater, as they call them, (in this country, they are called 
pimps.) He lived in St. Francisco Convent ; as the Priest? 
have them in all their Convents, to aid them in all then 
iniquity and seductions.* He was to go with us to disguise 
me as a friend, under his protection, and prevent it iron 

* The Pope of Rome patronises public brothels as a necessary evil. 
as they term it. His annual revenue from this source in the city o 
Rome, is considerable. Having been educated a Protestant, previon 
to my perversion to Popery,, this part of the discipline of the Romish 
church, I could never cordially reconcile to my mind. Whenever I es 
pressed my disapprobation, however, in regard to this part of their di 
cipline, the Romish Clergy invariably defended it. The law of th 
Romish Church, however, in this, as in all other things, is made parr 
mount to the law of God, which expressly says, " There shall be n 
'/chore of the daughters of Israel — Thou slialt not bring the hire of < 
whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for an 
vow, for even both these a,re abomination unto the Lord thy God." Den< 
xxiii. 17, 18.— Ed. 

9 



98 VIRGIN MARY ABOVE GOD. [Chap. 

being known, thai I was with Manuel. I had then been 
living with him about four years. We took our passage 
in a Spanish brig, commanded by Captain Joan, a Catalan 
Spaniard, bound for Puerto Principe, Manuel, the Alco- 
ivater, and myself, where we arrived in eight days. We 
all put up at the private house of a wealthy Spaniard, of 
the name of Zobrisco, whose servants sell dry goods in 
the streets. I think there are no Americans living there. 
It is a heathen, wicked country. You will find in all 
their houses, from the highest down to the lowest, wood- 
en, and sometimes marble images, representing our Sa- 
viour, the Virgin Mary, and different Saints, in their rooms, 
painted to resemble life, and candles burning before them. 
Those that are poor, and not able to buy candles, will 
burn a piece of wood, similar to our pitch-pine, cut in the 
form of a candle. These lights are specially kept before 
the images of the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. When 
they feel that they have done wrong, or committed sin, 
they kneel down to the image of the Virgin Mary, and 
pray to her ; as all the Roman Catholics believe that she 
has more readiness to forgive them, than God, or any ot 
the Saints.* We were there about three weeks. During; 

* The Popish church, in her Breviary, salutes the Virgin Mary with 
the epithet, "Salve Regina ! — Ave Regina ccelorum! — Domina Ange- 
lorUxM !" — " Hail! Q.ueen of heaven ! — Hail! Lordess of the Angels.' 7 
(In Officio B. Virginis.) 

In their " Preces ante et post Missam, ad usum Sacerdotum," which 
is a small formulary of prayers, recommended to be said by every 
Priest, and which is in common use among them, we find the following 
expressions, "O! Oar Lordess ! — Our Mediatrix, and our Advocate! 
render us worthy by thy mediation, to participate in the glory and hap- 
piness of thy Son, Jesus Christ." Preces. p. 46. 

To which we add the following blasphemy from the same work, 
"Accipe," &c. Receive what wc offer! — Bestow what we pray for! 
—Pardon our fears ! — because thou art the only hope of sinners." Pre- 
ces. p. 150. 

The Popish church styles the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven; 
and in every Popish country on the globe, incense is burnt unto her. 
This burning of incense to the Gtueen of heaven, we maintain, is for- 
bidden by the Word of God, and we prove it. See Jeremiah, Chap, 
XLIV. 17. 22, where the Lord forbids the people of Judah, from i; burn- 
ing; incense to the Queen of heaven ." 

Ridiculous and wicked as may seem the devotion of the poor deluded 



VII.] 



Rosamond's agitation of mind. 99 



that time, I was still growing more unhappy and wretch- 
ed, at my lost situation. To look forward, I dare not, 
and to look back, every thing would appear frightful and 
hateful to my mind. 

Papist towards the Virgin Mary, their devotion, however, is altogether 
consistent with their principles, and is sanctioned by the practice of all 
their own Saints. For the truth of what I here assert, I will merely 
adduce two testimonies, which no Papist can reject. The one is of 
their great Saint Epiphanius, and the other of the celebrated St. Ber- 
nard. 

The following is the prayer of St. Epiphanius to the Virgin : 

" Hp60aTop," &c, " O ! sheep," (says the Saint, addressing the Vir- 
gin,) "O! sheep, that produced a Lamb! O! cow, that bore a calf ! 
you produced, not a temporary, but an eternal God, who, incarnated in 
you, was before you, and before all things! O! light, illuminating the 
sun with your splendid lamp, and irradiating the ends of the earth ! O ! 
Holy Virgin, who, as a spiritual bush without combustion, held the fire 
of Deity! O! spiritual oven, that brought the Bread of Life into the 
world ! O ! maiden candlestick, that shines in darkness, and brought 
fire and oil for burning! O! unpolluted womb, which comprehended 

the incomprehensible God ! O ! bigger than the heavens, which 

pressed but lightly on the Deity within!" Epiph. de Laud. 2. 294. 

St. Bernard's prayer to the Virgin: 

<l Omnibus firmamentis firmius firmamentum." " O ! firmament, fir- 
mer than all firmaments ! Him, whom the heaven of heavens could not 
contain, thou, O ! our Lordess ! didst contain, conceive, beget, feed, 
suckle, and educate. Thou, in the midst of waters, dividest the waters 
from the waters. The light of thine eyes dispels darkness, expels le- 
gions of devils, purifies the vices of the mind, and warms the coldness 
of the heart. Happy, O ! Lordess ! are they, who behold your eyes. 
Turn, therefore, O ! Lordess! those eyes to us, and show us Jesus, the 
blessed fruit of thy womb." (Here I have to supply the indecent strain 

into which the Saint has run with a dash .) He continues, " O ! 

elevation of minds, intoxication of hearts, and SALVATION OF 
SINNERS! O! Lordess, gentle in consoling, mild in soothing, and 
sweet in kissing !" Bernard, Serm. IV. P. 1739 — 1747. 

Among other expressions of this Saint to the Gtueen of heaven, we 
find the following: 

"O ! Lordess, Holy Mary, thou art Heaven, earth, pasture. Paradise, 
bread, drink, manna, oil, wine, cinnamon, balm, myrrh, frankincense, 
olive, spikenard, saffron, gum, a temple, a house, a bed-room, a bride, 
a lamp, a kingdom, a Priesthood, a trumpet, a mountain, a wilderness, 
a field, a vine, a floor, a barn, a stable, a manger, a warehouse, a hall, 
a tower, a camp, an army, a bird, a palm, a rose, a river, a pigeon, a 
garment, a pearl, a candlestick, a table, a crown, a sceptre, a tree, a 
cedar, a cypress, a pipe, a reed, a daughter, a sister, a mother, a sun, a 
moon, a star, the city of God, the rod of Aaron, the fleece of Gideon, the 
gate of Ezekiel, the morning-star, the fountain of gardens, the lily of 
the valley, and the Land of Promise, flowing with milk and honey." — 
Idem. — Ed. 






100 MANUEL SEDUCES MARIETTEE. [Chap 

" From fear to hope, from hope to fear, 

" My shipwrecked soul is tost, ' 
" Till 1 am tempted, in despair, 

" To give up all for last. 5 ' 

While we were there, his wicked heart became jealous 
at seeing me talk with the old man, the Alcowatcr, as I 
was obliged to do, to seem to be under his protection, in 
order to blind the people. Often, when in the presence 
of the family circle, Manuel would pinch me in such a 
manner, that I was black and blue. Often, I have had 
to halloo out, when, on being asked by some of the family, 
u what was the matter ?" I would turn it off, and say, I 
had the cramp in my hand or foot. I have had to do this 
not only there, but also in other places, Here I was 
brought to be an eyewitness of some of his wickedness. 
in seducing the eldest of the daughters of the private fam- 
ily where we were staying; her name was Mariettee, a 
young girl only fourteen years old. I think there were 
five children, two girls and three boys. She retired with 
him into a room, for him to hear Confession.* She Con- 

* The Roman religion requires every sin committed, or thought of 
being committed, by a Roman catholic, to be Confessed privately to the 
Roman Priest ; and empowers the Priest to impose upon the penitent, 
some penalty to be often inflicted on his flesh, and generally some fine, 
if he has money, to be taken out of his pocket : and. furthermore, em- 
powers the Priest, to give him absolution from the pains due to the Di- 
vine law, for the sins Confessed ; the absolution to take full effect, from, 
and after the discharge of the penance imposed by the Priest. The re- 
hearsal of his sins \)y a Roman catholic to his Priest, is called 
Auricular Confession ; the penalty imposed by the Priest, is called 
Penance ; and the forgiveness of the penitent's sins by the Priest, is ' 
called Absolution. 

It is a little remarkable, that with so ready a way of discharging the 
penalty of every transgression in the flesh, so few Roman catholics yet 
reach heaven, without laboring some time in Purgatory, and without 
giving often much money for Masses, to help the souls of their deceased 
relatives through Purgatory. It would be unaccountable, if the Priests 
had not an income of no small value from the aid they profess to give 
the suffering souls of the dead by Masses, to relieve them from the 
flames, and to lift them out of the 'pit, into heaven! But there is a great 
gulf between Dives and Lazarus, according to the Scriptures, which no 
soul can pass. 

The use which Roman Priests can make of this doctrine of the 
Roman church, is mournfully exhibited in the painful story of Ma- 



VII.J 



THE PRIEST T S BASE PROPOSAL. 101 



fessed to him, among other things, that she had stolen 
two shillings from her mother. He told her that he 
would not have her be forgiven, unless she would con- 
sent to all his wishes ; that he would be a witness 
against her, that would send her soul to hell. All this 
Manuel himself told me. Her parents saw her dejected 
spirits, after her violation, bat thought she had been 
committing some sins, and was preparing to undergo 
penance for them, which they all do, under the direc- 
tion of their Priests.* Some have their heads shaved, 

riettee. The Priest must see his penitent alone. The sinner must tell 
him all his guilt, or there is no remission, but a fearful curse; must 
tell all the guilt he has done, or thought to do, else there is no remission. 
To aid the young in particular, long lists of questions from the Priests 
are printed and put into the hands of the penitents, on which they are 
to prepare their hearts, to answer the Priest, as before the Searcher 
of hearts. Some of these questions are indelicate and corrupting ; 
and the whole exercise is one of the master keys of Roman power, 
over the conscience of Roman catholics ; and is a systematic drill of 
the young mind under the command of disciplinarians, accomplished 
and skilled in all the arts of " the Mother of harlots and abomina- 
tions of the earth." 

* "We are accused by Papists of calumny when we state, that the 
Romish church holds that " ignorance is the mother of devotion ;" their 
great St. Ligori, however, confirms it. 

" How many simple girls," (says he,) '^because they have learnt to 
read, have lost their souls !" Ligor. Theol. Prax. Conf. de Person. De- 
vot. C. VII. N. 101. By losing their souls, in Popery, means losing 
their Popish faith. What the Saint therefore says, is, in this sense, 
true enough, since, after having learnt to read, they may steal an op- 
portunity of looking into the Word of God, and therein be instructed 
in the true way of salvation. 

How many of these poor, deluded, and Priest-ridden souls, (may we, 
on the contrary, truly say,) hav^e lost their souls ! and how many are 
still losing them, for the want, indeed, of learning to read, and for 
being led by Popish Priests, instead of by the Word of God! 

Such is the extreme ignorance to which Popery reduces her subjects, 
and in which she keeps them, that many of them absolutely do not 
know the prayer-book from a Bible. Some time since, in a conversa- 
tion which I had with a young woman from Ireland, who belonged to 
the Romish church, among other questions, I asked her if she ever 
read the Bible, " Yes," (she replied,) " I read the Bible every day." I 
asked her if she would show me her Bible. " I will," (said she,) and, 
running up stairs, exulting at the thought of proving her versatility in 
the Sacred Scriptures, she returns with a prayer-book in her hand : — 
11 There," (said she,) " it is." Why, my dear woman, (said I to her,) 
this is not the Bible, it is nothing but a prayer-book. — " O, no," (she ex- 
claimed,) " it is the Bible." Have you no other Bible but this ?— " No, I 

9* 



102 MODES OF DOING PENANCE. [Chap, 

and wear a coarse tow gown, with a leather belt round 
their waists ; some go barefooted ; and others do pen- 
ance in various different ways.* 

It was the evening before his barbarity, that Manuel 
told me all his plan and purposes with Mariettee; what he 
had made her believe, and what he wished me to do. 
And he threatened me in various ways, and specially 
with transportation to the mines, if I withstood him, or 
made an alarm, or warned the family, t And he hooried 

have no other, and I want no other : — your Bibles are all forgeries: — 
my Priest told me so." — I asked her, then who wrote the Bible 1 Here 
the poor creature was completely at a stand. — After some pause, how- 
ever, she replied, "Why, it was written by the Pope." 

Having spent some time in endeavoring to convince her of her 
errors, I found all my arguments of no avail. She still persisted that 
her prayer-book was the Bible ; that I was a heretic ; and heretics were 
not to be believed. I left her as I found her, as ignorant of the truth as 
a mere heathen. — Ed. 

* This barefoot penance, (as has been related, in the '''Renunciation 
of Poffry," a pamphlet published by myself shortly after my renoun- 
cing the Popish church.) was, by Rule, enjoined upon the Nuns of the 
Convents of Loretto, in Kentucky. Their Rule forbade them from 
wearing shoes or stockings, from April till the first of November. 
Many of these deluded devotees died in consequence of the severe pen- 
ance imposed upon them. The Rule, however, in consequence of i he 
repeated and urgent solicitations of the parents and relations of the 
Nuns, was eventually mitigated. 

The leather-belt penance. This penance, or one somewhat similar to 
it, I was once, when in the fervors of Popery, zealot enough to practise 
on myself. The belt I wore was a bed-cord, which was knotted in such 
a manner, that, by wearing it drawn tight around my hody r the knots 
sunk into my very flesh, and inflamed it to such a degree, that I was 
under the necessity of mitigating the severity of the penance in order 
to save my life. 

The hair-shirt is the ordinary penance which is enjoined in Popish 
countries to subdue the rebellion of the flesh. This rough Monkish sa- 
viour has not yet been introduced into the United States. 

Previous to my departure from New-Orleans to France, a certain 
zealous Papist, who was sorely beset with temptations which he wished 
to shun, begged me to procure and send him one of these hairy soul- 
saving machines. I promised to do it ; but as Bonaparte had been 
purging France of most of the Monastic nuisances, I was unable to- 
procure one. However, in order that he might have a substitute. I 
wrote to him, and advised him to wear a coarse coffee-bag in place of it. 
—Ed. 

+ How Manuel came to terrify her with these fears, she relates thus. 
Having threatened the child of Zobrisco, Mariettee, for her wicked- 
ness, with the terrors of hell, in her Confessions, privately; he then 



VIL] 



103 



to it, that is, he took the Priests' oath^to do as he said he 
would, and made me hoorie, or take the Priests' oath, to 

brought her two days before they left Puerto Principe, into the room 

of Mrs. C (who appeared to the family, only under the protection 

of the Alcowater,) and there brutally violated the child, threatening 
positively, that if the poor and distressed Rosamond interfered, or cried 
aloud, or said a word to alarm the family, he would send her to the 
mines. So he effected his infernal purpose, carrying the terror of hell 
to the heart of the child, and the terror of the Spanish' mines to the 
heart of his miserable and dependant companion. 

Of all the forms of vice, not one is so fatally corrupting, as that 
which assumes the sanctity of a preacher of righteousness, and robes 
itself in the mantle of the Lord Jesus Christ. The security of the 
public virtue and the honor of our Redeemer, constrain us to expose the 
wolves in sheep's clothing, who prey upon the lambs of the flock, and 
lead down to hell poor souls committed to their care, to be trained up 
for heaven . 

It is not the purpose of this Narrative, to excite the angry passions, 
or to wound the feelings of a living soul ; but rather by pointing' to 
wounds, (for who can lay them bare'?) which the Authoress has herself 
personally received, deep in the heart, to warn the young from trusting 
to the hypocritical wretches, who, in the profession of Priests of the 
Lord Jehovah, give themselves to the most wanton indulgence of the 
worst passions of our fallen nature. 

It would seem as if angels must weep over the scenes of Puerto 
Principe; and the blood rushes to the heart and to the head, while the 
wicked fruits of the celibacy of Roman Catholic Priests, are developed 
in forms too monstrous to be described, and in colors too black and dia- 
bolical to be conceived. How truly has the Apostle declared of them, 
''ivho, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness i 
to work all uncleanness with greediness.' 1 '' 

The unparalleled crime of Father Manuel Canto, taught the wretch- 
ed dependant upon his will, that nothing was too bad for him to do; and 
his own security evidently required him to deprive the eyewitness of 
his cruelty, of the power on earth to testify against him. Hence, it 
was, that she so certainly expected at this time, to be landed at the 
Spanish mines ; and her spirit was tossed, and shaken with alarms, 
like the ocean heaving in the calm, that suddenly succeeds the hurri- 
cane. 

Of the horrors she has passed through, that of the robbers, and this 
of Puerto Principe, leave the most painful impression on her mind. 
The former is described, the latter cannot be even imagined. I find vent 
for my own feelings in the words of an impassioned poet, which may 
also relieve the pressure upon the heart of the reader. 

" Weep all of every name ! Begin the wo, 
Ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds ; 
And doleful winds, wail to the howling hills ; 
And howling hills, mourn to the dismal vales ; 
Arid dismal vales, si^h to the sorrowing brooks j. 



104 THE DREADFUL POWER OF THE PRIESTS. [Chap. 

observe what he told me. My obligation, however, did 
not restrain me ; my fear of him, and of the Spanish mines, 
and of instant death, restrained me ; for, although I did 
not much regard the oath he put on me, I never knew 
him fail to observe that hoorie which he took. 

He told me that he could tell any Christian to take me off, 
saying, " Take aivay that loicked woman!" and it would 
be done at the word.* I never saw his countenance so 
malicious towards me before ; though it often appeared as 
much so afterwards ; and I was obliged to promise him, 
in order to be rid of his malice and his threats. 

Such was my dread of Manuel, that I dared not whisper 
a word about what had happened to the family. Had it 
been an American family, I would have died to tell them ; 
but to tell this family, would not save them from the de- 
vouring wolf in sheep's clothing ; and it would have 
brought the revenge, both of the family and Priest, on 
me. The Alcowater, under whose protection I appeared, 
had gone. I never knew what became of him ; but sup- 
pose from what I have seen of them, that he came to no 

And sorrowing brooks, weep to the weeping stream; 

And weeping stream, awake the groaning deep! 

Ye Heavens, great archway of the universe, 

Put sackcloth on ! And ocean, clothe thyself 

In garb of widowhood, and gather all 

Thy waves into a groan, and utter it, 

Long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous, immense ! 

The occasion asks it I" 

Pollok, Book vi. 

"Could a civilized man be guilty of such a deed 7 ?" exclaims the 
reader, his countenance flashing with shame and indignation ! 

" I wish you knew all about it," Rosamond replies. " Manuel told me 
beforehand what he was going to do, before he brought Marietteetomy 
room ; and told me, how he had wrought upon her fears, and how I 
must do, or he would send me to the mines." 

* St. Theresa, and with her, the great St. Ligori, says, that " God de- 
sires nothing of the soul who proposes to love him, except obedience to 
the Ecclesiastical Rules, to the Superiors, and to the Spiritual Fathers, 
the Priests." Ligor. Theol. Prax. Conf. C. ix. N. 167. 

"Irrational obedience," (say the Popish divines,) "is the most com- 
plete and perfect obedience; for instance, when a person obeys in the 
same manner, that an ass obeys his master." Cusan. Epis. 2. ad Bone- 
mos. Excit. L. 2. and 6.— Ed. 



VII.] MANUEL THREATENS ROSAMOND^ LIFE. 105 

good end, or to a natural death. I was alone, among 
strangers ; and I had not strength to lift so much as my 
voice aloud against the Reverend Priest ; Reverend to 
outward appearance, and consecrated, and holy in the 
eyes of the family and of all the people. Mariettee was 
in and out of my room, continually ; but I would not say 
any thing to her, for fear of Manuel. If her own parents 
could not afford her protection, to which she might confi- 
dently fly, it was in vain for me to attempt to caution the 
child. After dinner he came at five o'clock, to the meet- 
ing appointed ; for she had consented to meet him in my 
room, knowing what he wanted, and being taught that 
it was necessary for the remission of the sins she had com- 
mitted, to give way to the will of the Holy Priest. It was 
dusk, when he drew a Spanish knife, and threatened both 
me and the child, with a spirit such as. took away my 
senses. I could not support the horrible scene, but 
fainted. 

Whether it was my fancy, or whether it was actually 
so, I cannot tell, but to my eye and mind, Manuel's coun- 
tenance after this was changed. There was a wild, and 
horrible expression in his countenance afterwards, that he 
never got over ; something that spoke murder in the 
heart.* 

* To what dreadful crimes, does the Roman Catholic religion lead 
its deluded followers! Led to believe and trust in his superior power 
with the Lord and the Saints, the Roman Priest, continually pampered 
with adulation, at length gives vent to the wicked passions of the 
human heart in every form of indulgence first, and then in forms of 
the most beastly excess. Manuel goes into temptation by the duties of 
his office, without regard to danger; and whatever fall he may seem to 
make, it is^yet the fall of a Saint, easy to be restored to Divine favor ! 
He is made to forswear the world, and then is put in the way to gain 
the world, so as few could withstand, who condemn him for gaining the 
world. He is made to forswear wedlock; and then is exposed to 
temptations, to which no man should be exposed, and which any man 
might not find it easy to resist. He is set apart to the service of God ; 
and still is taught that the Mass and the image, to which he is made 
from lisping infancy to bow, receive and transmit this service to the 
Father of Spirits. He is bred up in the belief of lies, and why should 
he not serve the father of lies'? The whole system of Romanism is most 
accursed ; and, chiefly for this, that it leads both Priest and people 
under the curse of those who neither know God, nor obey the Gospel of 



106 NUMEROUS PENITENTS. [Chap. 

Daring the three weeks we were at Puerto Principe, 
Manuel had upwards of two hundred people under pen- 

the Lord Jesus Christ, while they blindly profess to proclaim the Gos- 
pel, and to possess the sole inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. 

One circumstance I mention to the praise of Rosamond. In the way 
she had first prepared this part of her Narrative, only enough was told, 
to warn the reader of a most villanous outrage, committed before her, 
in the name of the Roman Religion, by a Romish Priest in the exercise 
of his official duties. Most of the circumstances were concealed, from 
the obvious difficulty of enumerating particulars. They were intro- 
duced from time to time, into the Narrative, from her own lips, in the 
order in which they now stand precisely ; and that last expression in 
the narration, " I could not support the horrible scene, but fainted,'' was 
never used by her, nor hinted at. until it came out, as it is written, in 
the order, and in the place it is written. I mention this, because every 
one in her situation, who wished to appear refined, and who sought to 
hide her shame, and pain, and deep mortification ; who sought to ex- 
cuse her degradation, in being compelled to witness this most barbarous 
offence against natural affection and common humanity, would not 
have postponed that expression to the very last word of the last interview 
relating to it ; but she would have thrown out that particular to view, 
in the very outset, at the first mention of the subject ; and would have 
carefully kept it in view, at every successive explanation of the inhu- 
man crime. And I notice this striking fact, not for its singularity in 
her case ; but for its harmony with her whole conduct, and spirit, in the 
preparation of this work for the press, and for the American public. 

Under the Pontificate of Paul II., a bull was emitted from Rome re- 
specting the conduct of the Clergy,, particularly those of Spain, in refer- 
ence to the Sacrament of Confession : — " Whereas certain Ecclesiastics 
in the kingdom of Spain, and in the cities and dioceses thereof, having 
the cure of souls, or exercising such cure for others, or otherwise de- 
puted to hear the Confessions of penitents, have broken out into such 
heinous acts of iniquity, as to abuse the Sacrament of Penance in the 
very act of hearing the Confessions, not fearing to entice and provoke 
females to lewd actions, at the very time when they were making their 
Confessions." The introduction of this document into Spain, brought 
to light in a most appalling manner, the wretched condition into which 
domestic society had been reduced by the influence of the Papal insti- 
tutions. When this Bull was first introduced into Spain, the inquisi- 
tors published a solemn edict in all the churches belonging to Seville ; 
that any person knowing or having heard of any Friar or Clergyman's 
having committed the crime of abusing the Sacrament of Confession, 
or in any manner having improperly conducted himself during the 
Confession of a female penitent, should make a discovery of what they 
knew, within thirty days, to the Holy Tribunal ; and very heavy Cen- 
sures were attached to those who should neglect or despise this injunc- 
tion. When this edict was first published, such a considerable number 
of females went to the palace of the inquisitor, only in the city of Se- 
ville, to reveal the conduct of their infamous Confessors, that twenty 
notaries, and as many inquisitors, were appointed to minute down their 



VIL] 



WHIPPING TO DEATH. 107 



ance in different ways, and I was informed by a Mrs. 
S j that a certain lady, whose name, I think, was 

several informations against them ; but these being found insufficient 
to receive the depositions of so many witnesses ; and the inquisitors 
being thus overwhelmed, as it were, with the pressure of such affairs, 
thirty days more were allowed for taking the accusations; and this 
lapse of time also proving inadequate to the intended purpose, a simi- 
lar period was granted, not only for a third but a fourth time. 

The ladies of rank, character, and noble families, had a difficult part 
to act on this occasion, as their discoveries could not be made at any 
particular time and place. On one side, a religious fear of incurring 
the threatened Censures, goaded their consciences so much as to com- 
pel them to make the required accusations ; on the other side, a regard 
to their husbands, to whom they justly feared to give offence, by afford- 
ing them any motives for suspecting their private conduct, induced 
them to keep at home, To obviate these difficulties, they had recourse 
to the measure of covering their faces with a veil, according to the 
fashion of Spain, and thus went to the inquisitors in the most secret 
manner they could adopt. Very few, however, escaped the vigilance 
of their husbands, who, on being informed of the discoveries and accu- 
sations made by their wives, were filled with suspicions ; and yet, not- 
withstanding this accumulation of proofs against the Confessors, pro- 
duced to the inquisitors, this tribunal, contrary to the expectations of 
every one, put an end to the business, by ordering that all crimes of 
this nature, should be consigned to perpetual silence and oblivion ! 

What a picture of domestic life, in Papal Havanna, does this Nar- 
rative present ! The Priests hold one portion of the people in the bond- 
age of fear, and another portion in the bondage of sinful appetite, and 
all in the Egyptian bondage, and the Egyptian darkness of the " proud 
woman, which is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the 
earth;" — that city which, for above twelve hundred years, subdued the 
world by the Roman armies, and for about twelve hundred years more 
has subdued the world by the Roman religion. Be reverent before high 
-Heaven, and be astonished all inhabitants of the earth, that one city in 
the thousands of this world, has contrived, by force of arms, and by 
professions of religion, to tyrannize over the nations, to reign over the 
kings of the earth, to deck herself with the riches of all people, and to 
break to pieces, and to stamp with the feet, both the tables of the laws, 
and the charters of the civil and religious liberties of mankind, and the 
rights of conscience, for a term little short of 2500 years ! And Rome 
has done it, not by her own strength, but by the subserviency of her 
allies, and her vassals, and her dependent nations ; by the soldiers and 
the Priests of Italy, Austria, Gaul, and Spain. Under the command of 
Roman Impkrators and Roman Bishops, the liberties of the world hav« 
been and are still trodden under the foot of haughty Rome. 

And what place is so trampled on as Cuba; where the whole 
people are subject to Roman Priestcraft, from their cradle to their grave, 
from the lighting of their birth candles to the lighting of their death 
candles, from infant baptism to extreme uncfion ! Where the cry of 
robbery and murder is answered by a closing of shutters and a barring 



108 SINS FORGIVEN FOR MONEY. [Chap. 

Madame Castillo, or some such name, had whipped and 
starved her servant maid (who was a mulatto girl) to 

death. This Mrs. C was a lady* of fortune, about 

fifty years of age. 

Her penance for that, was, to wear an iron collar round 
her neck, and go barefooted. Her collar was put on in 
such a way, that whenever she turned her head, it would 
be like so many pins going through her. She was led to 
believe by this Priest, that by suffering six months, and 
having so many Masses said, and burning candles before 
the images of those Saints, God would forgive her. The 
clothes of the girl she whipped to death, were stuffed in 
the form of a person, and placed in the room where the 
images of the Saints were, with the candles burning be- 
fore them. At the end of six months, she was to be re- 
lieved, and to be forgiven, by paying a large sum of 
money to the Priest. It would be useless for me to say, 
how many different ways I have seen them undergo pen- 
ance. I did not see Madame Castillo, but Manuel did, and 
confirmed all that Mrs. S told me ; although it was a 

of doors against the voice of the cry! Where the rich have their fam- 
ily altars, and Roman Priests, in the eyes of the husband, the father, 
and the brother, go into the secret chambers with the wife, and the 
daughter, and the sister, seemingly to assist in their heavenly aspira- 
tions, and to guide their devotions, and to aid them in the true wor- 
ship of the living God! Where the same Roman Priests, in honor of 
chastity, affect to despise the marriage covenant, and do actually cast 
it utterly away from their own order, while they openly live in shame- 
less concubinage ! Where the people of good common sense, and wide 
information, are generally persuaded that the same Roman Priests 
have power to make a scape-goat of their concubines; and. when 
wearied of them, to Confess all their sins upon the head of the woman, 
and to send her away crazy to hell. And where the same Priests seize 
on young virgins under their parents' roof, and, with threats of eternal 
judgment in the name of their Apostolic power, joined to personal 
violence, wantonly and wickedly perpetrate the most beastly crimes, 
not shrinking from the presence of an earthly witness, nor before high 
Heaven ! — " Haw long, O Loral, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth /" 

Oh, horrible delusion of Romanism, surpassing, in the lives of Roman 
Catholic Priests in Cuba, all that we read or hear of the mental blind- 
ness of the ignorant heathen; and all that w T e can conceive of the de- 
pravity of man ! — But it is written here, "to let the world knmv % believing 
it will be also written in heaven" 



VIL] SHE LEAVES PUERTO PRINCIPE. ' 109 

resident Priest, and not Manuel, who imposed her pen- 
ance. Her penance was not finished when I left the place. 

By this time he had got ready to leave Puerto Prin- 
cipe, to return to Havanna ; but, previously, he had sent 
away, in his jealousy, the old man, the Alcowater. He 
put me alone on board a Spanish brig, under the care of 
the captain, with whom he was acquainted ; as he thought 
it would not be prudent, himself, to leave in the same ves- 
sel with me. I was alone, with no other passenger ; and 
the captain, whose name was Gosha, a Creole, a native of 
Havanna, treated me like a sister. The mate was an 
Italian. 

You can in some measure judge of my feelings, — I con- 
sidered myself lost in despair beyond all mercy. Manuel 
had brought my feelings to such a state, by his conduct 
and his threats, that I thought he was going to send me 
to the Spanish mines, there to be exiled. 1 thought it was 
for this he had sent away the old man, and I expected to 
be confined for life.* I was then brought to see what a 



* The abhorrence of Manuel, and desire to abandon him, were most 
natural to a bosom that had a spark of feminine feeling left. A perfect 
loathing of the unholy wretch was most natural to the abused sex. His 
threats show that he was thoroughly prepared for this state of Rosa- 
mond's feelings; and his Priestly associate in crime was at hand in 
Matanzas, to present her his commands to come to him at Havanna, 
under pain of that death which Manuel, the Priest, knew how to inflict, 
and which Padro, his fellow Priest, had the hardihood in his name to 
threaten. " Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpun- 
ished." They triumphed over the poor wanderer that time, and led her 
back to the sorrows of a sinful life with Manuel. But the very enor- 
mity of his crimes, while it bowed the spirit of the vexed Rosamond, 
still inspired her with a hope, that she would one day escape from his 
hands, through the mercies of an overruling Providence. Such trans- 
gressions she felt in her heart could not escape the judgment of God, 
although they do escape the observation of men ; and that the righteous 
One would help her against the oppressor, was a secret hope that found, 
sometimes, a place in her thoughts, and began after awhile to be cher- 
ished there with frequent misgivings. 

But what an exhibition of the Roman Priesthood is here! Wolves 
they are in this Narrative, not singly and alone, but, also, by the 
pack ; howling to ma-ke a prey of the innocent, and joining together in 
aid of the wicked schemes which one could not accomplish alone! 
The state of society in Spain and Cuba, is altogether, from the testi- 
mony of travelers, more corrupt than can be conceived of here. 

10 * 



110 HER FEARFUL APPREHENSIONS. [Chap, 

wicked sinner I was, and what wicked people I was with. 
To look forward, I dare not ; and I thought my misery- 
was near at an end, as I expected I was going to be 
landed on an island beyond the reach of all mercy. 



VIII.] HER VOYAGE PROM PUERTO PRINCIPE. Ill 



CHAPTER VIII. 



** But laymen most renowned for devilish deeds, 

Labored at distance, still behind the Priest ; 

He sheared his sheep, and, having packed the wool, 

Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves ; 

And to the bowl deliberately sat down, 

And with his mistress, mocked at sacred things." 

Pollok. 

On her voyage from Puerto Principe, is chased by Pirates. — Takes refuge 
in Matanzas. — Receives a letter from Manuel, desiring her to come to 
Havanna. — Her mental sufferings.-^ Is threatened with death, if she re- 
fuse to go to Havanna. — Leaves Matanzas and arrives in Havanna.. — * 
Is taken sick, anointed, and baptized for death. — Description of the ce- 
remony of her baptism. — Becomes deranged. — The Priests are in dread 
of her, — The people pity and deplore her lost condition. 

When we had been at sea three days, we were chased 
by a pirate, by which we were driven to Matanzas. Here 
I found myself landed in a strange and wicked country. 
When I left New Orleans, this was the first place I 
landed at ; but I then stopped but a few days before I 
went to Havanna. Here, I now found an American fe- 
male living, who belonged to New York. I found great 
comfort and consolation in informing her of my lost and 
forlorn situation. I was there but a few days, before I re- 
ceived a letter from my Priest, desiring me to come to Ha- 
vanna immediately. He had me in his power in such a 
way, that I felt as if I must obey him, as if he were some- 
thing more than a natural being ; not through love, but 
through fear. I had forgotten my friends and myself; I 
had forgotten I was in existence, aiming and planning to 
please him. I can truly say, that he has made me, at 
times, feel like a criminal, brought to the gallows, when 
in his presence. 

He wrote a letter to a Priest, Frederick Padro by name, 
a friend of his, who lived at Matanzas, desiring him to 
call on me, and threaten me with what would be the re- 
sult, and he did threaten me with death, if I did not go 
immediately to Havanna. Father Padro called on me, 



112 SHE IS THREATENED WITH DEATH. [Chap. 

and delivered the message, which was : " That if I was 
not in Havanna, in three days from that day, that I 
should not be alive ; thai he ivas acquainted with people 
in Matanzas, loho dare not disobey his orders ; and if I 
divulged this, to any one, my life woidd be in danger." 
Father Padro, who called on me, and made me this com- 
munication, took me to his house, where he had a young 
girl, nineteen years old, with whom he was living. He 
had been the cause of her ruin. She was a person of a 
line mind and beautiful. He had persuaded her parents 
to give her to him. They, being poor, and she being 
young and beautiful, he made them believe, that it would 
not be any sin to live with him, as he had so much 
power with the Virgin Mary, that he could sav6 her soul : 
this she told me herself. She had one child by him, but 
it was taken away from her soon after it was born. He 
told her that he was going to put it into a Convent, under 
the care of the Abbess. This is all she knew about the 
child. I could see that she was unhappy, and lived in 
much fear of him ; but she could relieve her mind, at 
times, by going to the Priest, and making her Confession, 
as she believed in the Catholic church, and all that the 
Priests told her. 

I left my American female friend, with whom I found 
so much consolation, for Havarma. Here I found myself 
with Manuel more unhappy and wretched than ever. I 
had given up all hopes of ever leaving the island, or get- 
ting away from him. I felt myself lost, and gave up to 
despair. Then I would say to myself, " Oh ! if I could 
only become a Christian, or could find some Christians to 
tell them of my trouble !" For I had no one around me, 
but what appeared so wicked to me, that I dare not tell 
them what my feelings were. 

Shortly after, I was taken very sick, and was brought 
very low. How to prepare myself to die I knew not, as I 
was as ignorant as any heathen of the way of salvation, 
and hell presented itself before me. Oh ! judge my feel- 
ings from what your own would be. — Manuel then per- 
suaded me, and insisted on my being christened, and 




"B O SAM03TB CHRIS TEltfEIX 



VIIL] ROSAMOND IS CHRISTENED. 113 

said I should then become a Christian, and would die 
happy. I consented to be anointed and christened, not 
believing that it could save my soul ; but as I was living 
in the manner I was with him, I thought it could do me 
no harm in the sight of heaven. He said if I died as 1 
was, he could not bury me.* 

The preparations were accordingly made, and I was 
removed from my bed to a death-table, as they call it T 
which is about four feet high, and seven feet long. Four 
death-candles were placed, one at each corner of this ta- 
ble, and the images of different Saints, with the Virgin 
Mary, were brought from the Convent into the room, and 
I was placed in the centre, laid out on the table. The 
image of the Virgin Mary was placed at the foot of the 
table, in full dress, with candles lighted up around her. 
Then there stood around two of those Capuchin Priests, 
and my physician, (who lived in the Convent, and dress- 
es like a Priest in habits,) with a gentleman and lady, to 
stand my Godfather and Godmother, and my Priest and 
other individuals, who came in as friends. — I was very 
sick, near unto death, but in the terror and excitement it 
caused, I did not feel my weakness, or disease. 

On looking around me, as I laid on that table, I thought 
that those Priests were so many devils ; and that I was 
truly in Purgatory : I was afraid to look at them, as they 
went through their ceremony. But I know their cus- 
toms : First, they burnt incense in the room, in an ark, 
which they take to be very holy. This is to burn the 
evil spirits out of the person, and out of the room. 

* " He could not bury me." This feature of Romanism, that refuses 
the chanty of a burial to a Protestant deceased, is traced by the poet 
Young, smarting with grief for the loss of a loved daughter, in these 
lines: 

" Denied the charity of dust to spread 

O'er dust ! (a charity their dogs enjoy ;) 

What could I do 1 What succour 1 what resource 1 

With pious sacrilege a grave I stole ! 

More like her murderer, than friend, I crept, 

With sof', suspended step; and muffled deep 

5n midnight darkness, whispered, my last sigh** 

10* 



114 THE CHRISTENING DERANGES HER. [Chap. 

Next, they rang a little bell, which they carry with them 
on such occasions. Then they knelt down, and laid my 
body, as they term it. by offering a prayer, a few words in 
Latin. Next, they sprinkled" me with Holy Water; 
anointed me with Holy Ointment. Crossing my forehead, 
my breast, my hands, and my feet, with this ointment, all 
the time ringing the small bell, and repeating over some- 
thing to themselves in Latin.* After they got through 
with this ceremony, as I have said, the excitement and 
terror it gave me. made me almost forget that 1 was sick ; 
and they then said I was a holy Christian, and that all the 
sins I had ever committed were ^oue from me : and they 
rejoiced over me, and said 1 had been weighed down and 
oppressed with evil spirits, which now were cast out of 
me. and I was made whole. They then put a Crosst 
round my neck, and told me. whenever I committed any 
sin, that I must take this Cross, and go to the imaofe of 
the Virgin Mary for mercy : that she would always have 
mercy upon me : but charged me. whenever I felt as if I 
had done wrong, to go to some Priest, and to Confess it 
to him. I did recover immediately from my sickness, and 
I do believe it was awing to the effect this had on my sys- 
tem ; but the Priests all said it was because they had 
made me a Christian : 1 was restored to my health again, 
in some measure, so that I was able to be about. I did 
truly feel as if I was another person, for my mind and 
feeling's had now become stupiried. 

I had now become foolish, like a child; so much so. that I 
could not remain in my house, wanting to be wandering, 
in the streets, alone. When out. I knew not where I was 
going : and when I saw any of the Priests. I would go up 
to them publicly, and cry to them, weeping, and tell them, 
they had set me crazy, that they had put Priestcraft on 



* "At the time of my baptism, I was anointed with oil ; a piece of salt 
was put in my month, the Priest breathing three times upon me, and 
touching my eyes, ears, and nose with spittle, speaking Latin all the 
while. They profe<s to take these ceremonies from the Scriptures." 
Miss Reed's six months in a Convent. 

t This individual Cross is now in the Asylum at Yorkville. 




XP EEA^TIC. 



J.V5 



VIIL] THE PEOPLE PITY HER. 115 

me. I got so lost at last, that I would not consent for my 
Priest to come to my house ; and if I saw him in the 
street, I felt as if I wanted to tear him to pieces ; and 
when I was laboring in this state of mind, I once tore 
his habit oif him in the street. He at last got afraid of 
me, and all the other Priests would try to shun me, when 
they met me in the street. 

ft became public to all, from the oldest down to the 
youngest, who I was ; and the cry was with them pub- 
licly when I went into the street : " Look at that poor 
American girl, v;ho lives with Father Canto ! He has 
made her crazy by malediction and Priestcraft F This 
had become so public, that all the people were ringing it 
in each other's ears. And they pitied me, and blamed the 
Priest. The old Bishop, and some of the Priests, consulted 
together what could be done.* There was a respectable 
family, that would send for me, and talk and plead with 
me, to leave the Priest. I remember the kindness of that 
family. Their name is Soutan, and they live in Cui St. 
Phillipe. Mr. Soutan transacts business in the Alcada's, 
or chief judge's office. He is an intimate acquaintance of 
my Godfather. They made me an offer, to take me and 
give me a home with them, telling me it was so wicked 
to live with him ; that God would never forgive me. I 
then asked them, if it was not wicked for him to do so. 
They would say, yes, yes ; but that he could save his own 

* For all this was a very public matter, so much so, that I was my- 
self annoyed in the streets, when I had my reason, by people pointing 
at me when I passed, and hissing to each other, as their custom is when 
they would arrest attention, and saying one to another : — " That is the 
poor American girl the Priest's have made crazy with their Priest- 
craft." [They all knew that she was living with Father Manuel Canto, 
and knew that it was a sin ; and they believed that the sin was visited 
wholly on her head, through the prevailing power of the Holy Priest 
with the Virgin and the Saints, to save his own soul. While this served 
to confirm their opinion of the Holy Priest's power, and filled them 
with fear of the men, who have such power with the Gods of Rome, 
the Virgin and the Saints, many still felt sympathy for the interesting 
young stranger, who wandered among them a monument of Divine 
wrath, smitten and broken, by the influence of the prayers of 
that man, for whose pleasure she lived, and to whose pleasure she 
ministered.] 



116 the priests' curses. [Chap, 

soul ; that he could pray all the curses of the sin, on the 
woman who had any thing to do with him ; and the 
curses would fall on her. This was all the comfort I 
could get from them. 



IX.] SHE IS DRESSED AS A PRIEST. 117 



CHAPTER IX. 

"How poor, how weak, how impotent, is man ! — 

Cradled in imbecility, the prey 

Of those who love him fondest, who will fan 

His passions by indulgence, and will sway 

To sense, and self, and pride, and fear, and play 

Their apish tricks upon him, till his soul 

Has lost its native innocence." 

Percival. 

Rosamond disguised as a Priest, by Father R . — Pays a visit to 

Father Canto, in St. Francisco Convent. — Her surprise at the thought 
of being confined there. — Manuel receives her gladly, and desires to 
knoiv all her history, and her religion, and her mind. — She opens her 
mind freely. — His confessions. — His contrition. — His advice to her to 
become a Nun in St. Claro Convent. — Manuel about to prepare to go on 
penance. — After three days, Rosamond returns from the Convent, in 

charge of the same Father R . — Tells her Godmother where she had 

been. — Her horror at this unpardonable sin. — Rosamond attempts to es- 
cape from Cuba. — Prays to the Virgin Mary. 

After a little, I became more reconciled in my mind. 
God was so merciful to me, I enjoyed my natural reason 
in some measure ; but I was still wretched and unhappy. 
Soon after, my Priest was taken sick in the Convent, and 
confined to his room. It was his wish for me to go to the 

Convent, to see him ; and he sent a Priest, Father R , 

who lived in the same Convent with him, to call on me 
with a letter, stating, that I must go to him in disguise, as 
a Priest, in their garb of a habit and a wig. They have 
wigs in the same form, as they shave their own heads, 
for the purpose of getting married, and enticing young 
ladies into their Convents, as I have heard the Priests 
themselves frequently say ; for, in this disguise, they can 
pass them in, without notice from any one. 

The same Priest, Father R , who came for me, I 

saw only the day previous, next door to me, hearing the 
Confession of a dying lady. 

I knew and felt that it was wrong for me to put this 
disguise on, and to go to the house of God, as I thought 
it ; but as I was so much in their power, I did not dare 



118 SHE IS DRESSED AS A PRIEST. [Chap* 

to refuse to go. Oh, how plain I can look back on my 
wicked pilgrimage ! and how plain I can see that God's 
Holy Spirit was with me ! for how often, when I have 
been doing wrong and wickedly, there would be a moni- 
tor within, that would tell me it was wicked in the sight 
of God, and I would feel bad and unhappy ! But, oh ! 
how soon these feelings would leave me, and I would go 
on and do those things, which I knew, but a few mo- 
ments before, were wrong and wicked in the sight of 
God, and, about which, I had been unhappy. 

"The more I strove against its power, 
I sinn'd and stumbled but the more ; 
My grief and burden long has been, 
Because I could not cease from sin." 

After I had dressed myself in this habit, and put the 

wig on my head, the Priest, Father R , took some 

black chalk, that he had brought with him, and blacked 
my eye-brows, and around my chin. — I then wanted to 
go and look in the glass, but this he refused me ; and said 
it would be so wicked for me to look in the glass, and to 
make fun of my Priest's habit. I could not persuade him 
to let me go to the glass ; but he said he could pass me 
any where in the day-light ; no one would take me to be 
a woman. 

When we entered the Convent, it was about eight 
o'clock in the evening. The doorkeeper, who keeps the 
keys, met us at the door. Not one word was said by 
either of us. We followed him up five stair-cases, and 
he unlocked five iron doors. I judged they were iron 
by the sound; and I have often heard the Priests say 
they were iron. The only light we had with us, was 
from the cigar the doorkeeper was smoking. Oh ! I 
could not describe the feelings which I had when the 
first door was locked upon us. I never thought, nor 
reflected on what I was doing, until then ; it came to my 
mind, that he had sent for me, to put me in some vault, 
there to die. All appeared silent as the grave, only I 
could hear the beating of my own heart ; and when he 



IX.] Manuel's indisposition. 119 

unlocked those doors, they would give such a doleful 
sound, as would make the whole Convent ring, which 
still made it appear more horrible. 

When we entered Manuel's room, I felt somewhat re- 
lieved.* I found him in his bed, sick. He appeared to 
be glad to see me. I never saw him look so unhappy in 
his mind, as he was at that time. He desired me to speak 
my mind freely to him, and tell him all my history ; who 
I was, and what first led me to come on the island ; what 
my feelings were towards him, and whether I had felt 
different in mind, since I was christened ; and if I had any 
desire to leave him, and come to America. I did feel able 
at that time, to open my heart wholly to him ; for I felt as 
if my time was come, and that I was brought there to die. 
I told him I was not prepared to die ; but if I died as I 
was I should go to hell ; that their religion could not save 
my soul ; and I did wish to come to America to die with 
my friends. He then wanted me to tell him all about 
our religion ; but I could not tell him any thing, for I 
knew nothing. I was as ignorant as a heathen of the 
right view of eternity, or the way to seek the salvation of 
my soul ; and I told him so. I pleaded with him to do, 
and to live differently ; that he could not be a Christian ; 
and it was so wicked to lead the people in so much dark- 
ness. He then told me, that he never wished to be a 
Priest from the first, but was compelled to become one by 

* The natural repugnance of Rosamond to put on the habits of a man 

for disguise ; the blacking of her eye-brows and chin by Father R ; 

her curiosity to see herself in this new attire ; the Priest's double assu- 
rance, once, that it would be wicked for her to make fun of her new 
habits, (and he knew her disposition too well to trust her at the mirror) 
and again, that nobody would take her black habits, and black brows, 
and chin, to belong to a woman, even by daylight ; form a group of in- 
cidents not easily counterfeited by any ingenuity ; but when to this is 
added, the thoughtless step with which she entered the Convent, the 
sudden reflection produced by the clang of the iron door, as it bolted 
her from the world, that she would go no more out of it forever; the 
only light, the light of the keeper's cigar, and the only sound, the sound 
of her beating heart, to whose aching pulsations the presence, even oi 
Father Manuel Canto, afforded some relief; these details altogether^ 
ajre so grouped by the simple hand of plain truth, as no artist could de- 
sign, no genius could invent. 



120 HIS FATHER A MONK. [Chap. 

the wish of his father, who was then living in Spain, and 
one of the head Monks there. I asked him if his father 
was ever married ; he said no. He told me he did not 
know who his mother was ; and I have frequently heard 
him curse her, whoever she might be. He never before, 
nor since, appeared to feel, or see, that he was living and, 
doing so wrong. He did not tell me so ; but I could see 
his countenance bespoke it.* He wept like a child, 
while he thought and spoke of his wicked course, and 
that he had been led to commit crimes against his con- 
science, through the office of a Priest, which was forced 
upon him, and which he never had a wish to take. And 
he openly expressed a wish to escape himself from Cuba, 
which it is no easy thing for a Priest to do, and to come 
to the United States, if only he had any means of obtain- 
ing a support there. 

He then told me I must prepare myself to die ; 

* This interview with Manuel in St. Francisco Convent, is one of 
rare interest. The reader may suppose, that in the retirement of his 
sick chamber, the reflections of Father Canto were not free from the 
stings of a guilty conscience ; and the recent extravagance and crazi- 
ness of Rosamond, came to arouse his doubts of the sufficiency of his 
doctrine and ceremonies to save a soul. The conviction that this Con- 
vent door would never be re-opened to her, inspired Rosamond with 
courage and resolution to lay open to him her whole heart. The 
compunctious visitings of his conscience aided her, and the Priest 
learned righteousness from her lips. He rather excused himself for 
his guilt in the Priesthood by charging the assumption of that office on 
the will of his father ; and the guilt of his life, be was so hardened as 
to cast on the strange mother that gave him birth. 

Possibly, the freedom with which Rosamond addressed him, was in- 
strumental of changing his purpose to confine her within the prison 
walls of the Convent vaults. It certainly brought him to exhibit some 
of the signs of penitence ; and his desire to know all about Rosamond 
and her religion, was evidence of a momentary distrust of the faith he 
professed. His confidence returned, however, while he parried her re- 
monstrance against his wicked life with exhortations to become a Nun, 
and to put herself under the tuition of his aunt, in St. Claro Convent. 

Having written this, and spoken of the contrition Manuel manifest- 
ed here, Rosamond added, that she had not told all ; for she feared 
bringing the vengeance of the Priests upon Manuel, and subjecting 
him to persecution for the frankness of his speech ; but when the further 
relation seems honorable to Manuel, I venture to give it, hoping that 
the spark of independence and of honest feeling it manifests, may yet be 
blown into a flame. 




PTTRG_A.TORT" EOOM. 



IX.] HER FEAR OF POISON. 121 

that if I died as I was, my soul would be lost for 
ever, and asked me if I did not want to be an 
Angel in Heaven. I told him yes, that I wanted to 
become a good Christian before I died. He then told me 
he had an aunt, who lived in St. Claro Convent, where 
there are a great many Nuns, all Christians and holy ; 
that they lived next door to heaven ; and if I would con- 
sent to go there, he would put me under the kind care of 
his aunt, and he could come and hear my Confessions, 
He told me also, that he was going to prepare to go on 
penance.* I replied, that I would make up my mind, 
and go there. I would go and die there. I did not feel 
so, but thought I should never be allowed to leave the 
Convent, and was obliged to answer him as I did. 

I remained in the Convent three days. A number of 
Priests, his friends, would come into his room, and would 
partake in eating, and in drinking wine. I could hear 
and see it was his friends, the Priests, who wished to 
have me put in confinement in St. Claro Convent, more 
than himself. While in the Convent, I would partake of 
nothing, that Manuel did not taste with me. I put confi- 
dence in him, while I feared poison and death in every 
form. He knew it too, and used to laugh at me ; but he 
always indulged me, by tasting with me. 

On the third day I came out, by promising I would pre- 
pare and go to St. Claro. The same Priest who took me 

there, Father R , came out with me. It was twilight 

when we passed through the rooms, I was dressed in the 

habit of a Monk, and Father R led me through by the 

arm. I could just perceive one of them was full of figures 

* This " going to prepare to go on penance" exemplifies both the con- 
fidence of the Priests in the efficacy of their own better remedy for sin, 
and the reluctance with which these spiritual physicians swallow the 
prescriptions they are every ready to administer to other souls. The 
Priests do go on penance under direction of the Father Confessor of 
their Convents. Manuel's late course might well call for some atone- 
ment, such as the guilty conscience, led by deluded Priests, requires k> 
be self inflicted on the penitent. But the Father Confessor of St. Fran- 
ciso Convent, seems to have been himself too deep in the mire of pollu- 
tion to lay any very heavy burden on his penitent Priests. He kept 
himself his lady inthe Convent, Manuel often said. 
il 



122 purgatory room. [Chap. 

in different forms, one of which was the image of the Old 
Adversary, with a blue flame issuing from his mouth > 
with all his troop. Another was the figure of a man, 
dressed like a Monk, with a horrible and frightful counte- 
nance, who stood near the jar of sulphur, brandishing a 
torch in his hand, which burnt with a blue flame. They 
were all naked. When we entered, we were almost suf- 
focated by the burning of sulphur, which was placed in a 
jar in the middle of the floor, around which were burning 
several small lamps. They call that room " Purgatory: 1 
The next room we entered, was in total darkness. By 
this time, I had become perfectly resigned. I never ex- 
pected to see day-light again, so sure was I that they 
meant to destroy me, for that, I believe, was their plan. 
I was so wretched, and troublesome to them, and Manuel 
was likewise so unhappy, that they wanted to get rid of 
me ; and but for him, they would have done it. I do be- 
lieve they would have confined me in St. Claro Convent, 
while I lived. 

I cannot express the feeling 1 had, when I found my- 
self out of this Convent, and once more in my house 
again. When reflecting, this all appeared to me like a 
dream : I could not bring to my mind the reality of the 
late scenes which I had witnessed and gone through. 

This Priest, Father R , told me. that my house was 

full of evil spirits, and I must have it cleansed and puri- 
fied ; must burn incense, and have some Holy Candles 
lighted immediately, and cleave to the Virgin Mary for 
mercy ; and through my weakness and blindness, I did as 
he told me. He left me at my house, on my promising 
that I never would mention to any one where I had 
been. 

I had brought my mind to such a state, that I was be- 
come afraid of myself, and of every one around me. If 
anyone would call and see me, to talk with me, and com- 
fort me, I imagined they were trying to lay some plot, to 
put me to death, or into confinement. 

Being asked by my Godmother, where I had been, I 
told her that I had been in St. Francisco Convent. She 



IX.] THE HOLINESS OF GOOD-FRIDAY. 123 

then said, that I had committed an unpardonable sin ; 
that the u Mother of Mercies' 7 never would forgive me, 
unless I went immediately and heard Masses, and made 
Confession to some Priest ; that I had run great risk, not 
only of being put in confinement for ever, but had com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin. 

My mind had become so distracted and weak, that I 
was led to go to a Priest to Confess. I went to several 
Convents before I had courage to enter one. In those 
Convents they have the Sanctuary for worship, and 
rooms where you go to give in Confession. The Priest 
that I went to, was between fifty and sixty years old. As 
soon as he learnt who I was, he told me he could not 
hear my Confession at that time. I must come to him on 
Good Friday, which was in the following week. That 
day they take to be very holy. It is the day the Catho- 
lics all burn incense in their houses and churches. 

On my return home, I found my Priest there waiting 
for me. It appeared to me, that I was fenced in by many 
evil spirits all around me, I was like a person in a house 
all on fire, and myself placed in the middle of it; for 
when I would look around, it appeared as if they all 
wanted to put me away in some confinement, there to 
die. I would go to this one, and that one, but none could 
relieve my mind, nor my conscience. 

" When iron slumbers bind your flesh, 

With strange surprise you'll find, 
Immortal vigor springs afresh, 

And tortures wake the mind. 

" Conscience, the never dying worm, 

With torture gnaws the heart, 
And wo and wrath in every form, 

Is then the sinner's part. 

" Sad world indeed, ah ! who can bear 

For ever there to dwell, 
For ever sinking in despair, 

In all the pains of hell." 

It then came to my mind, what my female friend had 



124 VIRGIN MARY HER GODDESS. [Chap. 

told me in Matanzas, that there was a place here in New 
York, a home for a penitent female to reclaim her cha- 
racter ; and the way pointed out to her, in which to seek 
the salvation of her souL My burden of conscience was 
somewhat relieved, upon the hope that 1 should be able 
to escape from the Island of Cuba. I made several at- 
tempts to leave, but was detected by my Priest ; and at 
every attempt I made, I felt more encouragement to be- 
lieve that one day I should succeed. 

Although every thing appeared so dark and gloomy be- 
fore me, behind me, and all around me, in all my troubles, 
wretchedness, and difficulties, 1 never thought of, or went 
to my God, to beg for mercy and assistance. No, I went 
to men, wicked people. I have, at times, when melted 
down in sorrow and misery, not knowing what to do, 
gone to my room, knelt down to the image of the Virgin 
Mary,* and poured out my feelings to her for mercy ! Oh, 

* The folly of image worship is so rank, that, to an American, it 
seems impossible to dwell in an enlightened mind. But here is an in- 
stance of an American of no mean spirit, bowed down with sorrows, 
and destitute of a right knowledge of the Holy God, blindly adopting 
the customs of the people that surrounded her, and pouring out her 
heart at the feet of an image, representing the blessed Virgin. This 
idolatry gained faster hold of her affections the longer she indulged it; 
for the relief which she experienced in unburthening her heart to the 
image, was a sensible pleasure, and, no doubt, if the fixed purpose of 
her soul to escape from the island, had not been favored of heaven, she 
would have become a perfect devotee of Romanism. It was long after 
her escape, months passed, before she rose superior to a profane vene- 
ration of the image of the Virgin and the Crucifix. " Thou shalt not 
make unto thee, any graven image, or any likeness — thou shalt not bow 
"down thyself to them, nor serve them" Exod. xx. 4. 

The reader may think of the generous Greeks and the haughty Ro- 
mans; of the wise men, and brave, and intellectual, of every age, who 
have bowed to images, and worshiped the work of men's hands. They 
knew that the wood was yet wood, and the stone, stone ; but they ac- 
knowledged the god which the wood and the stone represented ; they 
bowed and confessed and prayed before it; they praised and adored the 
ethereal spirits, which they supposed to hover around the images called 
by their name ; and so they gave, as the Roman catholics of all coun- 
tries now give, the glory which is due to Jehovah alone, profanely to 
the images and pictures representing deceased men, and departed 
spirits. 

We are in the habit of pitying the distant heathen ; of striving in the 
meekness of the Gospel, to turn them from the worship of idols, to serve 



IX. J GRATITUDE AT DELIVERANCE. 125 

what a life of darkness and blindness mine has ever 
been ! I knew that there was a God who made us, and 
that was all I knew or thought about it. I may well say- 
that I was a heathen. Oh ! blessed be his holy name, 
that he did bring me to New York, that he did have 
mercy upon me, and has opened my blind eyes, and en- 
lightened my dark understanding, and brought me to see 
the right way to seek the salvation of my soul. Oh, that 
I may always sit low at the feet of Jesus ! 

the living God ; but we do not sufficiently regard the heathen in our 
midst ; we do not pity, as we ought, the poor Roman catholic, who is 
led as certainly in the ways of the heathen, to the end of the heathen, 
as any Hindoo. Many offend them rather by their zeal, than win 
them by their charity to forsake images, and to serve the anointed of 
God. 

II* 



126 ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE FROM CUBA. [Chap. 



CHAPTER X. 

" And tell, hopeless bigot, why 1 

For what, for whom did Jesus dre 7 

If pyramids of Saints must rise 

To form a passage to the skies 1 

And, think ye man can wipe away 

With fast and penance, day by day, 

One single sin, too dark to fade 

Before a bleeding Saviour's shade? 

O, ye of little faith, beware ! 

For neither fast, nor Saint, nor prayer. 

Would aught avail you without Him, 

Beside whom Saints themselves grow dim.° 

Miss L. M. Davidson. 

Attempts to escape from Cuba.— Was detected by Manuel, who threatens tc 
have her confined.— Burning Holy Candles to the Virgin, and the Saints, 
— The pay of the Priests for laying evil spirits, and sprinkling Holy 
Water. — The ceremony of laying out and burying the dead. — Burning 
their bones. — Procession against the cholera.— Fly to the Convents as a 
refuge from the cholera. — The Priests entice two hundred, females into 
the, Convents. — No escape from the Convents. — The conduct of the Priests 
too indelicate to be told, — The amours of the Right Rev. Bishop, ic ho was 
near 100 years of age. — The lamentations of the females at the death of 
the Bishop. 

In one of the attempts I made to leave the island. I had 
my passage bespoke, and my passport in my pocket, and 
my trunks put on board ship. On leaving my house, to 
go on board myself, I felt like one who had committed 
some dreadful wicked crime, and was afraid of being de- 
tected. When I got to the wharf, I was met by the cap- 
tain of the port, who said that I could not leave in that 
vessel, nor the island at present ; and my trunks were 
brought on shore. I made no inquiries of him, where 
they were ; for I well knew I was detected by my Priest. 
I was then obliged to return to my solitary home, where 
my trunks had arrived before me. I had succeeded in 
getting off without my servant girl knowing any thing 
about it, until I returned. The Priest accused her of 
knowing it. Shortly after, she left me suddenly, and I 
never knew what became of her. I felt myself so much 
in danger, that I dare not make inquiries about her. 

My Priest then tofd me, it would be useless for me to 



X.] THE LAYING OF EVIL SPIRITS. 127 

try to leave the island; for I could not. He said he 
could bring me in a lunatic, and have me confined ; and 
many times he threatened me he would do it. His 
reasons for wishing me not to leave him, I could not see 
clearly at that time ; but since I have become enlightened, 
I can see it was because he was afraid of being exposed, 
as he well knew what state of feelings I was laboring 
under, and often, yes, often, he has heard me say ; Oh, if 
I could only become a Christian ! But I still felt encour- 
aged, that I should one day be able to get away. 

He wanted me to go into the country, to a friend of 
his, who was an elderly lady, a widow. He brought her 
to my house, to see me. I still kept on promising I would 
go whenever he wished. During this time, and the past 
year, I was seldom without some Holy Candles, as they 
call them, burning in my bed-room, with the image of the 
Virgin Mary, and other Saints, and a bottle of Holy 
Water, to sprinkle my house with. The Catholics all 
have them in their houses, and I had got such a habit, 
that I felt lost without them. 

Seeing so much of their Priestcraft and malediction, 
would stupify the most refined feelings of mind ; that is, 
if a person was a heathen, as I was. If you are placed 
among them, you are led to believe by the Priest, that 
the candles they buy out of the Convents are so blessed 
by the Priest, that burning them in your house will keep 
out all evil spirits. Every Good-Friday you must go to 
the Priest, to lay the evil spirits ; and then you start 
afresh for another year. But you must take the Priests 
a sum of money to compose the evil spirits. They cannot 
lay them, and bless you, without money. I have known 
my Priest to take from one hundred, to a hundred and 
fifty dollars, on a Good-Friday, by Masses,* Confessions, 
and laying the evil spirits in different families. 

When any of the Catholics have a new house built, be- 

* " The price of Masses," (says Ricci, who was himself an Italian 
Bishop,) " varies. The Priest turns every thing to account, — a privi- 
leged altar, — the devotion of the people towards a particular Saint, — a 
relic,—-an image reported to be miraculous, &c." Tom. i. p. 284. — Ed. 



128 LAYING OUT OF THE DEAD. [Chap. 

fore they move into it, they must have it laid, and Mass 
said, and pay a sum of money to the Priest for the ser- 
vice ; or, if you move from one house to another, it must 
be done for the house you move to, before you go into it. 
Each family, and person, generally, have their favorite 
Priest. When a rich person dies on the island, after the 
corpse is laid out, there is preparation made in the room 
for all the Priests to go and say prayers over the dead 
body, (a few. words in Latin.) and sprinkle some Huiy 
Water in the room. Afterwards each Priest would re- 
ceive two dollars before he would leave. The friends of 
the deceased are led to believe, that those prayers by the 
Priests will help them through Purgatory.* 

The way they lay out the dead there, is in a full suit 
of new clothes, shoes, and stockings ; the same as when 
living. When a lady dies, she is laid out in a suit of 
black ; the same as when going to church with her Holy 

* By endless exactions of this sort, the Roman Clergy, in those coun- 
tries where they are not much restrained by the eyes of Protestants, 
load and harass their people without mercy. What is to hinder them ? 
They have all power over the consciences, and even over souls, of the 
living and of the dead, not to forgive the sins of the one, or to pray out 
the suffering spirit of the other from Purgatory, unless they see cause, 
according to the faith they teach, and as the Roman catholics believe. 
Why, then, should they not tease the people to the very extreme of suf- 
fering 1 Man is by nature a tyrant; and never did any succession of 
men, in any age, hold the reii?s of power by what they call divine right, 
without grievously oppressing the people. Manuel Canto well said, 
extending his habit between his thumb and finger ; " These habits do 
not change our feelings ; we have the same feelings with other men." 
— And any set of men, even Americans, would become corrupt, as the 
Roman Priests in Popish countries assuredly are, if they were exposed 
to the same temptations. 

The fault of their excesses belongs not to this age of Priests; not to 
the Spanish, or Irish people ; but it belongs to the Roman catholic sys- 
tem; which inevitably would lead any people into their vices, as it has 
led them, provided they were exposed to the same instruction and ex- 
ample from their youth. 

Let us see our parents and holy Priest always adoring the image of 
the Virgin, and should not we, too, adore 1 Let American youth be 
separated to celibacy in the Convent and the Nunnery, in early life ; 
and then put to Confess to one another in secret ; and would not they 
become vile 7 — The fault is in the Romish system. The Roman cath- 
olics are neither more nor less than other men, except what that sys- 
tem makes them. 



X.] BURNING THE DEAD. 129 

Beads and Cross. Strict Catholics in Havanna, always 
wear black at Church, and at no other time. When a 
young maid, or a young child dies, she is laid out in 
white ; her face is painted ; and her head is dressed with 
white artificial flowers. They carry the dead in coffins 
to the grave-yard ; then they are taken out of the coffin, 
and laid in the ground. They are covered with lime, 
before the earth is put over them. The lime is put on, to 
eat the flesh ; for, once a year, in these countries, they 
take up the dead bodies and burn them. The bones are 
gathered together, and then buried. Three days previous 
to burning the dead, the Priests and the friends of the 
deceased make a great holy-day. The Priests get a great 
deal of money on those days for Masses and candles. The 
grave-yard is illuminated with candles, which they get 
from the Priests. Each one of the friends of the de 
ceased, will take a candle and a bunch of flowers, and 
place them on the grave where their friends lie. When 
they carry their dead to the grave, any one, who will fol- 
low, is presented with a candle by the Priest. No one is 
allowed to follow in the procession without a candle, 
which must be bought of the Priests. 

The Catholics do not think it any harm to go to the 
theatre, or masquerade-balls, nine "days after they have 
buried a near relative. They are led to believe that after 
nine days their bodies are at ease, and their souls are 
happy with their holy mother, the Virgin Mary, in hea- 
ven. Some of them, however, have Masses said for many 
years, for fear they may still be in Purgatory. The same 
custom of illuminating the grave-yard annually, and of 
burning the dead, prevails in the French grave-yard at 
New-Orleans : and the day is a holy-day for the slaves as 
well as their masters, there.* 

Shortly after the last attempt I made to leave Manuel, 
and Cuba, which was in the Spring of 1833, the cholera 
broke out on the island ; this woke up all the Priests and 

* To this statement respecting the annual burning of the bones of the 
dead at New-Orleans, I can add my incidental testimony. Such was 
the custom some few years ago when I visited the place.— Ed. 



130 PRIESTLY FEAR OF THE CHOLERA. [Chap. 

people. They had been expecting it, as it was visiting 
every other place : and, for a month before it broke out, 
the Priests all became very holy in going through their 
ceremonies of worship in their Convents ; and, for a 
month, they every day came out into the streets, in large 
processions, with images of the Virgin Mary, our Saviour, 
and the Saints, burning incense and candles, and praying 
that the cholera might not visit the island. — The images 
are as large as grown people, decorated in the richest ap- 
parel. The Virgin Mary's image would be placed on a 
couch, carried by four Priests. This couch would be de- 
corated with gilded leaves, and artificial flowers. The 
image would be placed in the centre of the couch, stand- 
ing and weeping with the tears on her cheek, and a white 
handkerchief in her hand. — By her looks you would think 
it a natural being. How they contrived the tears, I do 
not know. The image of our Saviour would be placed 
on a similar couch, carried by four Priests. — He would 
be standing up with his bleeding wounds. It would ap- 
pear as if the blood was actually gushing out from the 
body. — They bring the image of the Virgin Mary from 
one Convent, and that of our Saviour from another ; and 
when the two processions meet in the street, the Priests 
drop on one knee, Cross themselves, and pray in Latin ; 
and then the Virgin's image leads the way, and both pro- 
cessions go together to some Convent, where they place 
the images together. When the processions have left the 
images of the Saints, they disperse.* 

* The Roman catholics deny that they worship images. They deny 
that they bow down before them. — The simple truth is known to them, 
and also to the Judge of all. 

Their catechisms of instruction do not always contain the second 
commandment. They give the first and second as one ; and, for brevi- 
ty's sake, they repeat the first, and omit the second. To maintain the 
number good, they divide the tenth: 9. " Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bor's wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's "goods." They have 
ten commandments in this way ; although they sink the second into 
the first, or sink it out of sight. 

When introduced, it reads thus : " thou shalt not make to thyself a 
graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing;" &c. " Thou shalt not 
adore nor worship them." — And the Roman catholics all maintain that 
they do not adore, nor worship the graven thkig, the image, not they. 



X.] THE PEOPLE WORSHIP THE PRIESTS. 131 

The week before the cholera came, the Catholics were 
all crying out, that the cholera would not come there, and 
were led to believe it was the influence of the Priests, and 
the Holy Prayers they offered to the Virgin Mary, and 
other Saints, that kept it from them ; and when the igno- 
rant class met the Priests in the streets, they would kneel 
down to them, Cross themselves, kiss their habits, and 
take them to be their Gods.* But at length the cholera 
came ; and the Priests were more alarmed than the peo- 
ple, for fear they should die with it. I know how it was 
with Manuel, and he told me how it was with the rest. 
The people still clung to them for mercy, and offered 
them large sums of money for Masses, burning candles, 
and praying to the Virgin Mary, that they might be spared. 
The rich people fled to the Convents and churches, to re 
main there during the cholera, until the churches were 
all filled. They believed that by living in the Convent, 
and the influence the Priests had with the Virgin Mary, 

— They worship the spirit represented by the graven thing ; certain- 

iy— 

Suppose they do. — All idolators worship the spirit represented by 
the idol, while they prostrate themselves before the graven thing. 

But suppose Roman Catholics do not break the second command- 
ment, or any commandment, by kneeling to, andinvocating the images 
of departed spirits, still they break the first commandment, which or- 
dains: " Thou shalt have no other or strange Gods before me" — When 
they invoke the blessed Virgin, or St. Peter, they break this command- 
ment. 

" By no means," (exclaims the Jesuit ;) "we do not invoke them as 
Gods ; but only as Saints." — 

So they pray before images, but not to them; and they have many 
Saints, but no Gods, before the Lord of Lords. They bow down unto 
the images, and call them by the names of spirits, and ask their aid 
and pardon, their counsel and favor; and they have more faith in 
their mercy, than in the mercy of God. They rob the most High of his 
attributes; and ascribe them to their favorite Saints. " Ye hypocrites! 
well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto 
me with their mouth, and honor eth me with their lips, but their heart 
is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, leaching for doctrines 
the commandments of men." Mat. xv. 7. 

* Well did Petrarch, in a letter which he wrote to Cardinal de Ca- 
bassole, say, alluding to the Popish Clergy, " You are not like most of 
your brethren, whose heads are turned by a bit of red cloth, and who 
forget that they are men and mortal." — Dob. Petrarch, L. V. P. 479. — 
Ed. 



132 FEMALES FORCED INTO THE CONVENT [Chap. 

that they should be more safe there during the time of 
the cholera. The Priests persuaded about two hundred 
young females, belonging to the first families, to enter the 
Convent, and take the veil for life.* Their parents dare 
not refuse any request the Priests would make in the time 
of the cholera. 

The young ladies are obliged to enter the Convent, 
whether it is their wish or not. I saw eight enter on one 
day. It was one of the most solemn scenes I ever wit- 
nessed. They went through the streets in a large proces- 
sion. About one or two hundred Priests walked before 
the convicts, as I term them, for 1 have heard what they 
must suffer, after they enter there. They looked and ap- 
peared as solemn as if they were stepping into eternity. 
Their parents, brothers, and sisters, followed them with a 
band of music, playing a very solemn or death march. It 
is not uncommon to see them faint away, when entering 
the Convent, before they are put out of sight by the 
Priests. 

In vain for mercy now they cry, 
In lakes of liquid fire they lie \ 
Their minds, in bitter anguish tost, 
For ever, oh ! for ever lost. 

This taking of the veil always creates a great bustle 

*Such is the infatuation of the Popish Clergy in recommending their 
deluded female followers to immure themselves in Convents, that their 
great Saint Ambrose went so far as to eulogize the crime of suicide in 
support of chastity. Amb. 4. 478. Euseb. VIII. 23. The following his- 
tory is from Godeau : " During Maximin's persecution in the 4th cen- 
tury, Pelagia of Antioch, with her mother and sisters, rather than suffer 
violence to their persons, put themselves to a voluntary death. Pela- 
gia, adorned, not like a person going to death, but to a wedding, leaped, 
as she was inspired of God, from a lofty window on to the pavement; 
and, by her fail, mounted to heaven. Her mother and sisters, says the 
same historian, jumped into a deep river, where they found a baptism 
which purified them from every stain. The water, concealing their 
bodies, respected the bodies and martyrs of its Creator. Marcellina 
asked the opinion of St. Ambrose on this melancholy, but unwarranted 
action. The Bishop spoke commendably of the dreadful deed as a duty 
owed to religion, a remedy inoffensive to God, and an achievement 
which entitled these virgins to the crown of martyrdom." Godeau. % 65. 
—Ed. 



X.] THE PRIESTS SELECT THE FEMALES. 133 

among the gentlemen ; and, especially, among the mili- 
tary officers there at the time. They will curse the 
Priests, and expose them and their wickedness, for they 
know that no one will be ever allowed to see or hear 
again from those who have entered the Convent; no one, 
except their Priests and their Abbess. The Priests have 
often been at my house with Manuel, drinking wine ; and 
it would be their whole conversation about any young 
lady who was going to take the veil. They would be 
contemplating with each other, whether she was young 
and handsome ; and if she was not young and handsome, 
their expression would be : " Ka sta rnallo esta no rece- 
vo /"—that is, that she was not pretty ; that she will be 
no prey for them ; or is not worth having.* 

* More of the Interior of Convents. — The following documents in 
relation to the Convent in Baltimore, are taken from the Baltimore Li- 
terary and Religious Magazine. The witnesses are credible and re- 
spectable persons, and no explanation has yet been given of the myste- 
rious circumstance to which they relate. The whole system of Con- 
vents, the subjecting of American women to the despotic control of a 
Superior and a few Priests, and the cruelties which they are taught to 
endure as meritorious in the sight of Heaven, are inconsistent with the 
spirit of the times, they belong to the darkest ages of the world, and are 
paving the way to the introduction of a mental and spiritual tyranny, 
that has, for centuries, stained the pages of history with the records of its 
licentiousness and crimes. We believe there is but one paper in Balti- 
more that has published the statement, and without intending to im- 
peach the press of that city, we fear that very few would dare publish 
it, such are the influence and terror, which the Roman catholic religion 
already carries in the public mind. 

STATEMENT. 

We, whose names are subscribed hereto, declare and certify, that on 

or about the — day of , 183 — , about nine o'clock at night, as we 

were returning home from a meeting in the Methodist Protestant 
Church, at the corner of Pitt and Aisquith street, and when opposite 
the Carmelite Convent and school in Aisquith street, our attention was 
suddenly arrested by a loud scream issuing from the upper story of the 
Convent. The sound was that of a female voice indicating great dis- 
tress — we stopped and heard a second scream — and then a third, in 
quick succession, accompanied with the cry of help! help! oh, lord! 
help ! with the appearance of great effort. After this there was nothing 
more heard by us during the space of ten or fifteen minutes — we re- 
mained about that time on the pavement opposite the building firpm 
which the cries came. 

12 



134 THE PRIESTS GET THEIR PROPERTY. [Chap. 

If a Nun has any fortune, she takes it with her into the 
Convent : and also, her instruments of music, whatever 

When the cries were first heard, no light was visible in the fourth 
story, from which the cries seemed to issue. After the cries, lights ap- 
peared in the second and third stories — seeming to pass rapidly from 
place to place, indicating haste and confusion. Finally, all the lights 
disappeared from the second and third stories, and the house became 
quiet. 

No one passed along the street where we stood, while we stood there. 
But one of our party was a man, and he advanced in life — all the re- 
mainder of us were women. The watch was not yet set, as some of us 
heard 9 o'clock cried before we got home. 

Many of us have freely spoken of these things since their occurrence, 
and now at the request of Messrs. B. and C. and M. we give this state- 
ment, which we solemnly declare to be true — and sign it with our 
names. 

John BRtrsncrjp, 
Lavinia Brown, 
sophronia brushcup, 
Hannah Leach, 
Sarah E. Baker, 
Elizabeth Polk. 
Baltimore, March 13/A, 1835. 



CERTIFICATE OF THE MINISTER. 

This is to certify that John Brusbcup, Hannah Leach, Sophronia 
Brushcup, Lavinia Brown, and Sarah E. Baker, are acceptable mem- 
bers of the Methodist Protestant Church, of Pitt street station. 

(Signed.) William Collier, Super ifitendent. 

We take leave then to say in conclusion: — 1. This whole subject 
must be perfectly familiar to the Superior of the Convent, and to the 
Priest who resides there as Confessor to the establishment, and we de- 
mand of them an explicit and satisfactory account of this affair; in 
default of receiving which, we shall put upon their silence the only 
construction it can bear. 

2. The Archbishop of this diocese ought to know that such trans- 
actions are perpetrated in this establishment. And if all his Ameri- 
can feelings are not swallowed up in his vows and duties to the head of 
the Holy Roman state, we expect and call upon him to ferret out this 
transaction and relieve the public mind, by a full statement of the affair. 

3. To aid him, in his humane labors, (for which we trust he has 
leisure, as the Terrapine feasts of Lent must now be over,) we have to 
say, that we are well assured that two females have died within sir 
months in the Carmelite Convent ; and if he will furnish us with the 
date of their deaths, then we will furnish him with the date of the ter- 
rible affair, to which we now call his paternal notice. 

P. S.-We have never yet heard of any explanation of this myste- 
rious affair.—- Ed.— December, 1835. 



X.] NUNS AND THEIR SERVANTS. 135 

they may be. When they enter those Convents, they 
come out no more ; being so well guarded by the wicked 
Abbesses and Priests, I have been told by my Priest, that 
the Nuns have their own servants in the Convent, (Mu- 
latto maid-servants,) and that their employment is mak- 
ing artificial flowers, and needle-work. These are sent 
out of the Convent, and sold by the Abbess. Their work 
is very handsome, I have seen it, and bought it. You 
can go on the Sabbaths and holy-days, to the Convents of 
the Priests, and hear the Priests sing, when there is pub- 
lic worship ; but you cannot see them. But no females 
are allowed to sing in any of the Convents of Havanna ; 
none but the Priests are allowed to sing in public worship 
there : and they have so many kinds of musical instru- 
ments, that you can scarcely perceive the human voice. 
The great delicacy of the Priests is assigned as the reason 
for this separation. Delicacy forbids having a female in 
the choir with them. 

I could relate more of their wickedness ; but a delicacy, 
different from that of the Priests, must prevent me. One 
thing, however, I will observe ; that whenever I saw 
those Priests praying, or going to hear the Confession of 
the dying, or saw them in their processions, I would think 
to myself; oh, how wicked they are ! — How they are de- 
ceiving the people ! — During the time I lived with this 
Priest, until the last year, he used to inform me of a great 
deal of their proceedings, and of their intrigues of wicked- 
ness ; and, as his friends among the Priests were in the 
habit of coming to my house, to partake of suppers and 
wine, I could, and did see, and hear from them, the way 
they managed their seductions. The old Bishop himself r 
who died during the time I lived on the island, and who 
was nearly a hundred years old, was in the habit, until a 
few months before his death, of having young females 
come to his house for evil purposes ; and he was very 
partial to foreigners. If he found a female that pleased 
him, he would keep her at his house a number of days at 
a time ; and would bestow handsome presents upon her. 
I have heard the American females, who reside on the 



136 THE BISHOP AND HIS FEMALES. [Chap. 

island, lament how they missed the old Bishop; for they 
often used to be invited to his house. He lived about 
two miles out of the city, at the Place de Toros. They 
used to go there for a treat, as they called it ; for he al- 
ways gave them wines and cakes of every description ; 
and it never cost them any thingfor the ride ; for he often 
sent his kitterrine for them, and always made them that 
pleased him, handsome presents. I have seen diamond 
pins, and diamond rings, that he has given to different 
American females. When I informed my Priest of this, 
he would appear to rejoice ; for he knew more than I 
could tell him, not only about the Bishop, but all the 
Priests ; how they are always aiming and plotting in- 
trigues to seduce the young females, and married ladies. 



XL] DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS. 137 



CHAPTER XI. 



u It was a strain of witchery, 
So sweet, yet mournful to my ear, 
It lit the smile, it waked the sigh, 
Then startled pity's pearly tear ; 
There was a ruffle in my breast, 
It was not joy, it was not pain, 
'Twas wild as yonder billow's crest, 
That tosses o'er the heaving main." 

Pbrcival. 



Description of the dress and amusements of the inhabitants of Cuba. — 
Their mode of sanctifying the Sabbath. — Frequency of Assassinations. 
Slothful habits of the natives of Cuba. 

I will endeavor to give you, as near as I can, some of 
the customs, and the mode of living, of the citizens of 
Cuba ; although my mind does not bend to the subject ; 
for the view of this world, I have laid aside. In the first 
place, there is very* little moral and virtuous principle 
possessed by the natives of Cuba ; neither by males, nor 
females.* Their principal study is dress, and public 
amusements, such as masquerade balls, the theatres, 
gambling-houses, and bull-fights. These are all visited 
by male and female, old and young. And I must include 
the Priests among the visiters of all those places, except 
the bull-fights. The bull-fights they attend not; because 
they are exhibited in the day-time.t 

* Lest this might seem to be the fruit of the observation of one who 
was not likely to be acquainted much in the circles of the virtuous, it 
is proper to add, that from the testimony of others who have personal 
acquaintance at Havanna, the remark is fully and fearfully corrobora- 
ted. And how can it well be otherwise, when the shepherds who feed 
the flock, are not only robbing them, but are leading them into all 
manner of snares and devices, to the corrupting of their morals, and 
their habits. 

The remark is generally a sound one : Like pastor, like people. This 
being true of Cuba, and as those say who have visited the island long 
enough to be thoroughly acquainted with it, the society of that island 
must be in a deplorable state, in regard to all the domestic relations, and 
the private virtues. 

t Moore, in his tour through Italy, tells us, that " all of the Clergy, 
the Monks not excepted, attend the theatre, and seem to join most cor- 
12* 



138 bull-fights. [Chap. 

The first object of females there, is dress, which is very 
tasty, and very rich. They wear a great deal of jewelry. 

dially in other diversions and amusements. The common people are 
no ways offended at this ; nor do they imagine that they ought to live 
in a more recluse manner." Moore's View, Vol. 2. Lett. 59. 

We have seen, from the note extracted from the Theology of St. Li- 
gori, on the subject of sanctification of the Sabbath, that the Romish 
church allows theatrical representations on the Lord's Day as well as 
on any other day. Consequently, if it is not wrong to perform plays on 
the Sabbath, it is not wrong for the Clergy to attend them. So far are 
the Popish Priests from thinking it sinful to frequent the theatre on the 
Sabbath, that I have frequently heard them condemn the Protestants 
for their ignorance, and Pharisaical strictness, in maintaining it is 
wrong. 

The following Bull, however, which was issned by the late Pope 
Pius VII., on the 1st of January, 1815, ends all further controversy on 
the subject. The 24th article of this Bull runs as follows : " Every Ec- 
clesiastic, Deacon, Subdeacon, &c, is forbidden to appear at any play- 
house in his religious habits. The play-houses are to remain shut 
every Friday throughout the year. No Ecclesiastic is to go into a 
play-house, in any habit or dress soever, on "Wednesdays and Satur- 
days, but HE MAY ON SUNDAYS I I !" 

The reason why the Romish church does not allow her Clergy to ap- 
pear at any play-house on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, is, 
because on these days the laws of that church enjoin universal absti- 
nence from flesh meat ; and Saturday is the day appropriated to the 
honor of the Virgin Mary, their " Queen of heaven" 

Thus it is, that they officially exalt a creature " above the Creator, who 
is God, blessed for ever more." On the Lord's Day, the Lord who is 
King of heaven and earth, Priests can innocently frequent the play- 
house ; but on the Virgin's Day, the Virgin, their Glueen of heaven, it 
would be sinful ! ! ! — It seems almost incredible ! — Surely, indeed, the 
prediction of the Apostle is verified, when he says, " God shall send 
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" 2 Thes. 11 : 11. — Ed. 

Capt. J. E. Alexander, and other tourists, who have visited the West 
India islands, testify, that the Priests do frequent the bull-fights. See 
Alexander's " Transatlantic Sketches," Vol. 1. p. 339. 

The apparent discrepance between the authoress of this Narrative, 
and Captain Alexander, can very easily be reconciled, without the 
slightest disparagement to the veracity of the latter, and much to the 
favor of the testimony of the former. The authoress, ever tenacious 
of the truth, describes nothing more than what she knows, or what she 
has been witness of. She says the Priests did not attend the bull-fights ; 
—evidently meaning thereby, that she did not know of their attending. 
She never was in their company at those fights ; for the simple reason, 
as she states, because they were u exhibited in the day-time." The time 
the Priests take to gallant their Mistresses about, is under the shades of 
night. When they attend the bull-fights, they leave them at home. 

On reading what the authoress has stated on this subject, who » 
there that cannot see that she writes under the dictates of truth, candor, 



XL] DRESS OF THE NATIVES. 139 

They wear no hats, but ornament their head with gilded 
artificial flowers. They never wear any but satin shoes 
and silk stockings, with their clothes very short. Instead 
of hats, they wear lace veils over their heads, either 
white or black. Their dresses are made with short 
sleeves, and their necks are bare. They wear no gloves, 
in order to display their bracelets and rings, which are 
mostly of diamonds. The females are small in size, with 
small feet and hands. The natives have generally dark 
complexions, but they make use of whiting and red 
When they are dressed, they are very beautiful to look at 
The elderly ladies wear no hats, or caps. Their dressei 
are also made with short sleeves, and their arms orna 
mented with bracelets and rings. Fathers, mothers, and 
daughters, all mix together in the public amusements. 

The gentlemen likewise are very neat in their dress. 
They are, in general, possessed of a lively disposition, very 
easy, open, and polite, in their manner, both male and fe- 
male, as much so, if not more, than the French. They 
are very fond of music, singing, and dancing. You will 
hear instruments of music in all the houses of rich and 
poor, from the heads of the houses down to the poor 
slaves. Their principal and favorite instruments, are the 
piano-forte, and the guitar. These two instruments you 
will hear in their houses, from morning till late at night ; 
likewise, singing and dancing. In this way, they pass their 
time. 

The servants are also permitted to indulge in their in* 
struments of music, which are of their own manufactur- 
ing ; consisting of a Banjou, and some other instruments. 
Of an evening, their houses will echo with the^ifferent mu- 
sic, from the masters and mistresses, to the servants. They 
are very holy on the Sabbath mornings, until 11 o'clock ; 



and impartiality 1 If she had wished to paint the frightful picture of the 
moral depravity of the Romish Priesthood, in colors darker than could 
be drawn by the pencil of truth, why did she withhold her pen from 
giving it such a touch as that of their frequenting the bull-fights 1— 
Evidently, because she was unwilling to sacrifice the truth for the em- 
bellishing of a tale. — Ed. 



140 SABBATH AMISEMEMS. [Chap. 

going to their churches, and to the altar ; dipping their 
fingers in Holy Water ; and kneeling and Crossing them- 
selves : and going to the image of our Saviour, and kiss- 
ing its feet. After they return to their homes, they take- 
off their ;; Sacred black-dresses.'' which they all wear at 
church, and decorate themselves in their usual tasty 
dresses. The remainder of the Sabbath will be spent in 
talking, laughing, singing, and playing until the evening. 
Then they prepare to o'o to the theatre, or masquerade 
balls, or to the gamblinsr-houses. All these places of pub- 
lic amusement are open on Sunday evening ; and not 
only the citizens will go. but the Priests, 1 have been 
often, yes. often, with my Priest ; and have seen other 
Priests there, and talked with them, on the Sabbath. 

The Sabbath day is considered a holy-day for amuse- 
ments. The soldiers are out. o-oing through the streets 
with music. On Sunday evening, at five o'clock, they 
will prepare to ride out in their kitterrines. to the Place 
de Toros. about two miles out of the city. It is a beauti- 
ful place, where they resort to ride, called the king's Pas- 
sour, or Garden. This garden is about four or five miles 
of level ground, along the sea-shore, laid out with oranges, 
and lemons, and flowers of every description Here there 
will be. on Sabbath afternoon, a number of bands of music 
playing. At six o'clock, they will return to the city, to 
prepare for the theatres, where they stay till eleven or 
twelve o'clock.* After returning home from the theatres, 

* In all Popish countries, the Sabbath-day is a holy-day. It comes 
to be the same among the Papists of this country. In New-Orleans the 
places of public amusement are open on the Sabbath-day. In the city 
of »w-York, the cake shops, and orange women, present the usual 
temptations of the week in a vast many cases, where Roman catholics 
are the proprietors. The review day of the soldiery is the Sabbath-day, 
in all the dominions of the Roman religion. The reader shall know the 
ground on which Rome ventures to abate the fourth commandment, 
and to turn the Lord's day into a day of carnal amusement. 

Rome affirms that the church has all power through its ministers, to 
alter or amend the Divine commandment, according to the exigencies 
of the case: to appoint a day, and make it holy, or to make the day 
common and secular. The immemorial custom of the Romish church 
is taken for the common law of that church ; and the custom of Ro- 
mans, having been, time out of mind, to be devout on Sabbath momiDg 



XL] GALLANTRY OP THE PRIESTS. 141 

they will partake of supper and wine, and smoke cigars, 
it is customary for females, as well as males, to smoke 
cigars. They are made of fine tobacco wrapt up in white 
paper. When a gentleman makes his calls on the ladies, 
after entering the house, and passing the compliments of 
the day, he will present his cigars to them. It is custom 
ary for the Priests to do the same, when calling on their 
friends, only their method is to Cross themselves, when 
presenting the cigar to a lady. And the people would 
think it a sin, if they did not present wine and refresh 
ments to the Priests, when they called on them. 

They generally rise at half-past five, in the morning, 01 
six, and prepare to go to Mass or Confession ; and return 
to their homes in about an hour.* At eight, they 

while attending one Mass, and to spend the remainder of the day in 
amusement, this settles the question of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and 
removes the obligation of the fourth commandment. Moreover, the 
Saints' days, appointed to be observed by the Romish church, are, 
many of them, of the same sanctity with the Sabbath-day : and, as it is 
very inconvenient to give several days in seven to Divine worship ex- 
clusively, they are accustomed to clip holy-time, on every holy-day ; 
and, finally, to convert that season which they intended to sanctify, into 
a season of amusement. And they treat the Sabbath, precisely as they 
treat the days of the greatest Saints. They make it also a holy-day. 

* The Mass is this: — The Romish Council of Trent, the last and 
greatest of the Romish Councils, say, that although Christ was offered 
once on the Cross, to procure eternal salvation, he left in the Last-Sup- 
per a sacrifice, which the nature of sinful man requires to be applied 
to the atonement of the daily sins, which Christians commit : and that 
the same Christ who was sacrificed on the Cross with his blood shed, is 
daily sacrificed without blood in the Mass, to make reconciliation for 
the true penitents, on account of their daily sins. And that this offering 
is not only effectual to remove the stains of guilt from the living, but 
also to make atonement for the sins of the deceased believer, who has 
not yet paid the full price of his offences in the fires of Purgatory. 

In performing the ceremony of the Mass, which should be done every 
morning, in all Roman catholic churches, for the sins of the people, 
there is some part of the service to be pronounced aloud, and some 
only to be spoken in a whisper, and all to be said in the Latin tongue, 
with a display of burning candles, incense, and changes of the Priest's 
garments, to excite the attention of the worshipers. 

The Mass is a mingling of wine and water and particles of bread 
in the chalice, which the Priest consecrates, as the flesh and blood of 
our Lord, and, having offered it up to be adored by the worshipers, he 
reverently drinks it off, and thrice rinses the cup, and drinks, that no 
particle of the sacred elements may remain in the cup ; and then, ho 



142 BRANDY IN COFFEE. [Chap. 

take their strong coffee. They never use tea, except as 
medicine. Thev take a little brandy in the coffee, instead 

carefully wipes it out with a consecrated napkin, and restores the cha- 
lice to its place in the altar. 

This is the Mass, " the unbloody sacrifice," as the Romans call it, 
which is daily offered for the sins of the living, and of the dead, if there 
is any money to be had for the service. 

And so tenacious is Rome of this monstrous rite, and of the circum- 
stances here connected with it, that she pronounces an awful curse on 
the man who denies that the Mass is a true and proper sacrifice of 
Christ to God; and also on him, who says that the service is only use- 
ful to the Priest who performs it, and that it ought not to be offered in 
atonement for the sins of the living and of the dead; and, on him also, 
who says, it is an imposture, to offer the Mass in honor of the Saints, to 
obtain their intercession with God ; and even on the man, who says the 
ceremonies, and changes of raiment, and external signs used by the 
Roman catholic church in celebrating the Mass are more vain than pious. 

Therefore, in Cuba, and in all Roman catholic countries, the devout 
are particular every morning to attend Mass, and to pay the Priests 
well for Masses to be read, said, and offered for the sins of their de- 
ceased friends, to help them through Purgatory; and to leave a bequest 
to the Priests to the same end. 

How much profit this may be to the dead, no one has returned to tell, 
but it is evidently profitable to the Priests. 

But, in all the Holy Gospel, not a word is said of the Mass, or of a 
daily sacrifice of Christ, except it is, that the apostate by their sins 
crucify the Lord afresh: " Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of 
God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Heb. 6:6. " Who needeth 
not daily, as those high Priests, to offer up sacrifice ;—for this he did, 
once, when he offered up himself" Heb. 7: 27. 

" Under the idea that the Priest, who performs the bloodless sacrifice, 
as they call it, can appropriate the full benefit of it to the individual 
whom he mentions in his secret prayer, before and after consecration, 
the Roman catholics are eager, all over the world, to purchase the be- 
nefit of Masses for themselves ; to obtain the favor of Saints, by having 
Masses done in their praise; and, finally, to save the souls of their 
friends out of Purgatory, by the same means." 

This miraculous change of the wafer, by which the Lord in heaven 
becomes every day offered up in sacrifice, according to Rome, at the 
hands of her Priests, on the account of that person, or thing, that the 
Priest is pleased to name in the prayers of the Mass, constitutes the 
brazen forehead of u the Man of Sin" the most imposing feature of the 
Antichrist. All Roman Priests are clothed with this power, as they 
think, by virtue of their office ; and the supposed possession of this 
power, makes them the terror of the poor flock, over which they are 
placed as pastors. To gain the exercise of this divine gift for the sav- 
ing of the soul, is the anxious desire of every good Roman catholic ; 
and the worst of them fear the spell on their prospects, both for time 
and eternity, which the Priest is believed to have it in his power to lay 
for his enemies, by virtue of the Mass. 



XL] MANNERS OF THE NATIVES. 143 

of milk ; and, afterwards, smoke a cigar. This is custo- 
mary, both with old and young. They breakfast at nine 
or half-past, and take wine, instead of coffee. They take 
luncheon at twelve, which will be of confectionary, jel- 
lies, wines, and cordial. They dine at three. Their 
cookery is very rich ; mostly fricassees. After drinking 
their wine, smoking, and cleaning their teeth with snuff, 
they retire to their couches, to refresh themselves. I have 
heard my Priest, and others, say, that tobacco was a holy 
herb. The first that ever was known to grow, was on 
our Saviour's tomb. At five o'clock they decorate them- 
selves for some public amusement ; and return and take 
supper at ten. 

They are fond of fish, eggs, or something hearty for 
supper. The native females seldom do any kind of work ; 
neither the rich nor poor families teach their children to 
make so much as their own clothes. There are a great 
many foreigners living there, Italians and French, who 
do their principal sewing. They employ their leisure 
time in singing, dancing, playing on musical instruments, 
and smoking cigars. You will see little girls and boys, 
as soon as they can walk, with cigars in their mouths. 
The parents do not mind holding conversation on any 
subject, good or bad, in the presence of their children- 
They say it will make them wise, to know all things, 
both good and bad. A poor man will have money to sup- 
port his family in idleness, if he has to rob or murder to 
get it ; this I have been told often. Frequently persons 
hung for murder, (which you will see more or less every 
week,) will confess that they had taken the lives of ten to 
fifteen persons, before they would be detected ; as the 
men are too lazy to work, especially the natives. The 
native Spaniards will not work ; but the emigrants from 
old Spain, especially the Catalan Spaniards, are indus- 

For the power to appropriate it to whom he will, is accompanied with 
the power likewise to appropriate it for whatever he will. Masses are 
known to be offered in the Popish countries for the benefit of brutes, 
even of dumb beasts, as well as man ; and also, to curse, as well as to 
bless, the souls of the deluded Roman Catholics. 



144 CATALAN SPANIARDS. [Chap, 

trious. These Catalan Spaniards are numerous in Ha- 
vanna. They are dark complexioned, have a language 
of their own. and come from Catalonia in old Spain. 
They constitute the great body of the wealthy, indus- 
trious, and enterprising inhabitants of Havanna. 



XII.] VARIOUS MODES OF PENANCE. 145 



CHAPTER XII. 

u See superstition crouched in some rude rock, 

Books, beads, and maple-dish, his meagre stock ; 

In shirt of hair, and weeds of canvass dressed, 

Girt with a bell-rope that the Pope has blessed-; 

Adust with stripes told out for ev'ry crime, 

And sore tormented long before his time : 

His pray'rpreferr'd to Saints that cannot aid .J 

His praise postponed, and never to be paid ; 

See the sage hermit, by Popery admir'd, 

With all that bigotry adopts inspir'd, 

Wearing out life in his religious whim, 

Till his religious whimsey wears out him ; 

His works, his abstinence, his zeal allow'd, 

You think him hui^ble, — God accounts him proud." 

CbwPER. 

ManueVs confidential communications to Rosamond. — Penance in the 
Vault ,' in an iron coffin. — Fasting on bread and water. — Penance in 
the Pur gator y-rovm. — The penances end with presents to the Priests. — 
How the Priests put young females on penance too shameful to be told. — 
Some of the licentious Priests sent to the Mississippi to propagate their 
faith. 

For the first two years that I lived with Manuel, he 
used to open his mind very freely to me, as to how and 
what the Priests had done, and were doing : but when he 
saw that my feelings were changing to a gloomy and un- 
happy state, he was more cautious. He used to tell me 
when such and such a Priest would go on penance ; and 
in what way he himself used to go on penance, at differ- 
ent times, while I lived with him, when he knew that he 
had treated me cruelly. They are obliged to Confess 
every mornirig to the head Comparthra, or Superior Con- 
fessor of the Convent. The Superior puts them on pen- 
ance, according to what they have done. Manuel has 
told me some of the forms in which they go under pen- 
ance, according to what they have done.* Some will be 
confined in a vault under the Convent, and will remain 
there nine days, fasting on bread and water. Some will 

* " A man who is not yet reconciled to God, (says Bellarmine,) can, 
by works of penance, pray for, and obtain as a right, (' de congruo/) 
the grace of justification." Bellarm. de Just. L. V. — Ed. 

13 



146 VARIOUS MODES OF PENANCE, [Chap, 

go to the Purgatory-room, and be laid in an iron coffin •* 
some for three, and some for nine da3rs, fasting on bread 
and water. I have heard Manuel say, that, before the 
Constitution, hundreds of Priests have suffered death in 
that vault. When he talked about it, as he did much in 
the year the eight or nine Spanish prisoners, confined on 
charges of treason, escaped from Moro Castle by night, in 
a boat, during a thunder-storm, he would devoutly Cross 
himself, and repeat: " K a sta mallo /" "How very 
bad !" 

My Priest has told me that the most respectable, and 
elderly men, when they wish to go on deep penance 7 
(that is, if they have hired a person to murder an indivi- 
dual ; for if they have a lawsuit with an}?- one, and are 
afraid it will go against them, they will get their opponent 
murdered,) then they will apply to their Priest Confessor, 
how to go on deep penance ; and their Priest will take 
them into the Convents, and put them on penance in this 
room, which is called Purgatory-room ; but 1 have heard 

* Tfcis penance of the Priests is an evidence of the iron consistency 
of Romanism, and of the confidence of the Priests themselves in the 
nostrums for expiating guilt, which they prescribe in much heavier 
doses for the guilty people, than for their own plague-spots in the soul. 
It is easy to laugh at their stupid folly ; but possibly it is not right ; for 
to them who are called to it, the lying in an iron coffin for successive 
days, in the midst of the fumes of sulphur, with no better food than 
bread and water for a dainty stomach, is truly a serious affair : and 
since the poor souls have always been taught this mode of repentance, 
and know no better ; and for their labor have only their pains, and a 
false license to sin afresh ; they rather deserve our tender pity, and our 
most earnest and kind efforts, to save them from their own torments in 
this world, and from the endless torments of the wicked in the world to 
come. It is natural and common to despise the errors of other men, and 
the men who maintain the errors ; yet, we admit, that it is cruel to 
mock at one born blind, because he cannot distinguish colors. And 
how much is a poor soul, born and educated in the delusions of Rome, 
better than one mentally blind to the holy perfections of God, and to the 
tender compassions of Jesus, and to the sanctifying power of the Holy 
Spirit 1 He is made blind to the salvation which is offered in the Gos- 
pel, by folds of mystery, and abominable delusion, drawn over his sight 
from the time he can distinguish between a living man, and a senseless 
image. Therefore we ought to have compassion on the souls that wear 
the hard yoke of Rome, and in the kindest spirit to ease them of their 
cruel burthen of senseless ceremonies, and deceitful penances, and false 
hopes. 



XIL] THE VIRGIN AND THE MURDERER. 147 

Manuel say, it depended a good deal on who the persons 
were that they would take into the Convents, to go on 
penance. It must be a respectable man, and one whom 
the Priest knows to be a strict Catholic, and wealthy* 
When these offenders have gone through their penance, 
they are obliged to make handsome presents to all their 
Saints in the Convents, and which are numerous. The 
images of Abraham, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and 
John, a great company dressed in habits ; these are not 
decorated ; only the Virgin Mary's image is dressed rich. I 
have seen a crown placed on the head of the Virgin 
Mary's image,* set with diamonds, in the most costly man- 
ner, which he told me was presented to her, by a very 
wicked man, a pirate-captain and a murderer, who had 
been in the Convent on penance, and who presented it 
when kaving.t I saw this man when afterwards he was 



' * " Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and the streets of 
Jerusalem ? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, 
and the women knead their dough to make cakes to the GLueen op 
heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may 
provoke me to anger. 11 Jerem. VII. 17. 18. 

The Papists universally in their Officers, and everywhere, style the 
Virgin Mary, the " GLueen of heaven." — " Ave ! Regina otelorum !" — 
u Haiti Queen of heaven! 11 says their Breviary in the Office of the 
Virgin. Offic. Parv. B. Maries. Antip. ad Magnif. 

The cake of which the Scripture speaks in the above text, is made 
in the Popish church, and offered to the Virgin Mary, their " Queen of 
heaven, 11 every Saturday in the Mass. This day the Romish church 
appropriates, in a special manner, to the honoring of the li Queen of 
heaven, 11 and the Mass that is then enjoined to be said unto her, is called 
a Votive Mass, " Missa Votiva 11 Vide Offic. B. Virgin, in Sabbato. in 
Breviar. 

The cakes are made in the form of a large wafer, and the (< dough 
is kneaded, 11 precisely as the text declares, by tl women 11 

The drink-offering is the wine in the Mass, which, in the Popish 
church, " is poured out 11 or offered every morning to their different 
Saints, which they call honoring the Saints. Vide Breviar. Rom. Pas- 
sim. — Ed. 

t The greater the sinner, and the greater his offence, the greater is 
the price of his pardon, and the greater is the Priest's fee. It was fit 
for the captain of a piratical crew, to adorn the head of the image of 
the Virgin with a costly crown : for no small acknowledgment was due 
to the supposed remissions of his multiplied offences. 

The natural fruit and inevitable consequence of this state of things 
is, to make the Priests rejoice in the greatness of the iniquity of their 



14S PENANCE OF YOUNG FEMALES. [Chap. 

hung for murder ; and seeing him, led my Priest to tell 
me he was the person, who, at one time, had been in the 
Convent on penance, and had presented this crown to the 
Virgin Mary. 

My Priest was always reserved in informing me in 
what mode these men would afflict themselves, when on 
penance in the Convents ; but, always when they had one 
there, he would often speak of him, and appear to pity 
him, but he would say he wished it was the rule for fe- 
males to go into the Convents on penance, and he was 
their Father- Confessor for ordering the penances upon 
them. 

I could here relate in what ways the Priests put young 
females on penance, which I have been informed by Ma- 
nuel ; but delicacy must prevent me. I wish the world 
knew of their deception and intrigues, seductions and 
wickedness, as I do. I even pity the Priests ; and how 
much more do I pity and feel for the people they are de- 
ceiving, and ruining, and leading into darkness ; and not 
only the natives, bat even American females who are 
there. For the Priests of the island, the very same 1 
knew to love licentiousness at heart, were ordered away 
by the Bishop to some other settlement ; some of them to 
the villages on the Mississippi river, to remain there, to 
preach the Roman religion.* 

penitents, so long as their copious treasures enable the criminals to pay 
for their pardon a sum proportionate to their transgressions. And for 
this joy a man who. is educated to the Roman Priesthood is not so much 
to blame, as the system which exposes him to the temptation of taking 
pleasure in that which mightily increases his means of procuring pleas- 
ure. The Priests are but men : their garments do not' change their 
hearts. They rejoice and must rejoice in those things, which lawfully 
fill their pockets with the means of increasing their worldly comforts. 
* This 1 confirm in regard to licentious Priests in the United States. 
—Ed. 



XIII.] FATHER HOSA 149 



CHAPTER XIII. 



-The unfaithful Priest what ! ongue 



Enough shall execrate ! His doctrine may 
Be passed, though mixed with most unhallowed leaven, 
That proved to those who foolishly partook, 
Eternal bitterness : — bat this was still 
His sin — beneath what cloak soever veiled ; 
His ever growing and perpetual sin, 
First, last, and middle 'nought, whence every wish, 
Whence every action rose, and ended both — 
To mount to place ; and pjower of worldly sort ; 
To aid the gaudy pomp and equipage 
Of earthly state, and on his mitred brow 
To place a royal crown : for this, he sold 
The sacred truth to him, who most would give 
Of titles, benefices, honors, names ; 
For this, betrayed his master ; and for this. 
Made merchandise of the immortal souls 
Committed to his care — this was his sin ." 

POLLOK. 

Father Horn's execrable conversation with Manuel respecting the Nuns.~ 
Lived some years in concubinage with a Quadroon girl. — His barbarity 
towards her. — He interrogates Rosamond respecting the beauty, fyc, of 
the females of the Mississippi valley. — His and Manuel's desire to have 
all the Protestant ministers in Moro-caslle. — An American imprisoned 
in Moro-castle 40 years. — Description of Moro-caslle. — Priestcraft. — - 
The Priests refuse to intercede with the Virgin without money. — Super- 
stition in regard to dreams. — In default of money for Masses, jewelry is 
taken. — The laying of souls. — Priestly exactions and impositions. — The 
Cassa or house of the Virgin Mary. — The room in which were the devil 
and other horrible images. — The people's superstitious fear of the Priests, 
— Mode of performing penance. — Jealousy among the Priests. — Seduc* 
tion of a young girl. — All compelled to kneel while the Host or consecrated, 
Wafer passes. — The common people kiss tlie Priest's feet. 

I knew a Priest well, at the time he left the island to 
go to the Mississippi, about the year 1830 ; whose name 
was Father Hosa. He was a man about thirty-five years 
of age, tall, slender, and of a delicate appearance, dark 
complexion, with full black eyes, and very heavy eye- 
brows. His left hand was deformed by the loss of the 4th 
finger, which was taken off close to the palm of the hand. 
Father Hosa was an intimate friend of Manuel. They 
were both natives of Spain, and educated for Priests in 
Spain, as 1 have heard them say. Father Hosa used to 
visit my house often : and I have heard him say things, 
13* 



150 FATHER HOSA'S CHILDREN. [Chap. 

in conversation with Manuel, which he ought to be hung 
for, relating to what he had done, and what he wished to 
do, with the Nuns, who were in the Convents on the 
island. He had been living then about seven years with 
a Quadroon girl, as his Mistress, and had two children by 
her, who were living. She was young, when he first be- 
came acquainted with her, and he was the cause of her 
ruin, as I have been informed by my Priest, and other 
individuals. While living with her, he made her a per- 
fect slave, by his cruel and harsh treatment. The food he 
provided for her and the children, would be the remnants 
that were left of his luxurious suppers, which he would 
have at her house.* 1 was informed she grieved much 
at his leaving the island without making any arrange- 
ments for the support of her, or his children. He told 
her, when he was settled on the Mississippi river, he 
would send for them.t 

A few days before Father Hosa left the island, for 
America, he was at a supper-party at my house ; and 
knowing that I had formerly lived in the Mississippi 
country, he wanted to get some information 'about the 
customs, and manner of living there ; and if the females 
were handsome, and open and easy in their manners ; 
and asked me, if I could not put him into the way to get 
into their favour. I told hinrthat the females were gen- 
erally virtuous and chaste in that country. My Priest 
made reply, that he was very glad it had fallen to Father 

* Six months in a Convent, apple-parings. 

t Rosamond spoke of the pitiable situation of this poor girl, more than 
once, in a way to show how much she felt it ; but never intimated the 
hardest feature in her case, until an apothecary of this city, who has 
spent a season in Havanna. was descanting upon the fices of the 
Priests ; their notorious habits of concubinage, gambling, and crime, 
and added, among other things, that they weve known to keep girls to 
hire out for vicious indulgences. Then she explained that this same 
Quadroon was so abused by Father Hosa. He would be jealous of her 
in the extreme ; for fear lest she received company without his knowl- 
edge, and yet he would send her foolish souls on sinful hire, which he 
received for her. This is an enormity that only could be committed 
by a man under the blind delusion of " The Mother of harlots and abom- 
inations of the earth. v Vile as this is, it sorts but too well with the 
other traits of Father Hosa's conduct recorded here. 



XIIL] AN AMERICAN IN MORO CASTLE. 151 

Hosa's lot to go, instead of him. He said that he had 
been informed the same by others. Manuel advised him 
to be very prudent here in America ; as there were so 
many poor Protestants living there, whom their Protes- 
tant ministers were leading in darkness : and they would 
all be lost. They said they wished they had all the Pro 
testant ministers on the island, in the Moro castle, wher* 
the old man was. This man that they spoke of, was an 
American, who was found in the Moro castle, not long- 
before Father Hosa left the island. He had been there 
about forty years. I cannot inform you who first learnt 
he was there, or for what purpose ; but when he was 
found, they said that he was elderly, but in health. I re- 
collected a few months previous, that there was great talk 
about some one finding him in this prison. 

Moro castle is the principal fort, and station for sol- 
diers, and the prison for desperate criminals. It is on a 
small island, close to the harbor of the city. They keep 
the prisoners in it : those who have committed murder, 
and those who are waiting to be transported to Spain, 
and to the Spanish mines. I know, at the time the old 
man was found in the castle, the Priests were very un- 
easy about it. I asked my Priest, if they could not set 
him free, and let him come to America. He said it would 
be just as the Bishop decided ; and charged me not to 
mention it to any of my country people. What I learned 
from my Priest, at the time, led me to believe this poor 
man had been put into the prison, for some of the wicked 
purposes of the Priests. I can not tell his name, nor the 
part of the United States he came from : but he was from 
the United States, and was very old, and Manuel pitied 
aim much. 

Since I have been writing and reflecting about thest* 
Roman Priests, so much of their wickedness comes to rny 
mind, which I was eyewitness of, during five years I was 
on the island of Cuba, that my mind is overwhelmed ; 
and I feel as if it was my duty, and as if it was serving 
the Lord, in writing, to let the world know about them ; 
not, that I believe it will be so much for the benefit of th'» 



152 DREAMS WITCHCRAFT. [Chap. 

souls of the Priests, (although God is able,) for they all 
know, that their lives are full of evil purposes ; but it is 
for the love I bear for the souls of the many people they 
are leading in darkness. 

Their religion is perfect witchcraft. They have a most 
peculiar way of enlisting you into it. You may think it 
strange that there is so much murder and robbery in those 
countries, but it is because the Priests make the people 
believe there is no harm, which they cannot heal, in com- 
mitting murder, robbery, or telling a lie ; if, when you 
are committing any of these wicked deeds, you have your 
mind, your thoughts, and your heart, fixed on the Virgin 
Mary ; and it is no sin, if you go immediately to some 
Priest, and Confess it to him.* This was common doc- 
trine among both Priests and people, so far as I knew 
them. But they cannot intercede with the Virgin Mary, 
unless you take them a sum of money, to have your par- 
don. Money with them is necessary to buy salvation for 
the soul. 

They are also very superstitious. If you dream about 
any near relative, who may have been dead for years, 
you are led to believe by the Priests, that their souls are 
unhappy : and that they can put them to rest, by saying- 
Masses and burning Holy Candles. If a person has not 
got money to pay for them, they will take jewelry. I 
have had given me by Manuel, while living with him, at 
diiferent times, jewelry, which he has got in such a way. 
When I asked him if he thought it was not wicked to do 
so, he would reply: "If I did not take it, some other 
Priest would." 

In this city the souls of the dead are also sought " to 
be laid.'''' If any rich lady, or gentleman, be in bad health, 

* All the evils of the world, are, by the Apostle, reduced to three 
heads: "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of 
life." 1 John 11. 16. The Popish Doctors, however, say, that these 
are onlv " evangelical counsels." Thorn. Aquin. L. II. Ctuest. 9. 
Art. 3. " 

" To disobey an evangelical counsel," (they say,) "is no sin." Vega 
de Justif. L. XIV. C. 12. Navar. C. XXIII. N. 49. and C. XXI. N. 43. 
—Ed. • 




EICH LADY DOIIsTG PEMXCE. 



X1IL] THE RICH LADY AND THE PRIEST. 153 

and think they are going to die soon, they will some- 
times put their money into the Priest's possession, believ- 
ing that he will pray more sincerely for their souls, on 
account of the money. 

1 knew a rich widow lady who had given her wealth 
to a Priest, Father Antonia, belonging to the Convent of 
St. Domingo, to keep. This is not the Father Antonia 
that used to visit at my house. They both belonged to 
the same Convent ; but Manuel's friend was a young, 
small, light framed man, with a Roman nose ; while this 
Antonia was a large, fat man, with a red face, forty or 
fifty years of age. This Priest would make her believe 
that she must live in such a secluded way, that she would 
not allow herself the necessaries of life ; but every cent 
she could get, she would give to this Priest. He made it 
a rule to call at her house every day at eleven o'clock, to 
heal" her Confession. Her retired room for worship had 
images of the Virgin Mary, our Saviour, and other Saints, 
as large as grown persons. The Virgin Mary was placed 
in a small house, they call it, de Cassa, the house, (simi- 
lar to a cage, or show-box, to contain the image,) decora- 
ted with artificial flowers ; and dressed in the richest 
manner with pearls and diamonds. The room was al- 
ways illuminated with Holy Candles. Precisely at the 
hour her Priest would come, a table was placed in the 
centre of the room, with a bottle of wine, cakes, sweet- 
meats, and fruits of every description. A large candle, 
placed in the centre of it, Would be lighted up. They 
would remain in this room, alone, about an hour. 

Afterwards, Father Antonia would go to another room 
which she had appropriated to the servants. In this room 
would be the Virgin Mary and our Saviour, and one can- 
dle. In a corner of this room, was placed an image rep- 
resenting the devil, a most horrid figure. Here he would 
every day hear the Confessions of the servants, to keep 
them in subjection through fear. These scenes I have 
witnessed, as I used to go to her house often ; and she 
has often taken me into her room of worship, and kneel- 
ing down with me to the image of the Virgin Mary, sho 



154 her penances. [Chap. 

would pray, among other things, for me, that I might 
leave the Priest, and become a Christian. And in talk- 
ing with me, she would say, that he could save his own 
soul, and had that power and influence with the Saints 
above, that he prayed for all the curses of his sins to be 
laid on my head. This rich lady's name was Madame 
Pelori, the widow of a dry-good merchant of Havanna. 
She was an old lady, and lived in " cui le Vorispa" as 
they call the street where her house stands. This impres- 
sion of the Priest's power to curse the head of the woman, 
is universal among the people of Cuba, with whom I was 
acquainted : and what gives ground for it is, that it is so 
common to see those females who are long in their vile 
and wicked company, exposed to their sorceries, and their 
Priestcraft, and their lewd conversation, go crazy. I have 
myself known many females who lost their reason, as I 
myself did, while living with Roman Priests. The people 
are so afraid of displeasing one of the Priests, even if they 
know the Priests do what is wrong and wicked, that they 
dare not tell them of it, for fear they should pray a spell, 
or curse upon them. 

I have known this rich widow lady to go on penance 
often, and have seen the forms of her suffering. Some- 
times she would wear a coarse tow-gown, made in the 
form of a habit, with a leather belt round her waist, and 
would go barefooted, with her head shaved like a Priest, 
during from three to six months ; and her diet would be 
chiefly plantains and bannanas. At other times, I have 
seen her on penance with a steel collar round her neck, 
placed in such a way that she could not turn her head. 
This she wore, night and day, for nine months. These 
penances were ordered by her Priest. This lady died, 
leaving no children, and giving all she had to the Priest. 
While I lived on the island, the Priest, Father Antonia, 
came to her house, and removed her corpse to the Con- 
vent. It remained there four hours, and then was taken 
to the grave, in the same form as one of their poor, and 
buried without honor, Her Priest took possession of her 



XIII.] 



MUTUAL JEALOUSY OF THE PRIESTS. 155 



servants, and all her property, which was thought to be 
great.* 

. When an occurrence of this kind took place, as it often 
did, I have heard Manuel say it would create a jealous 
feeling among the other Priests, towards the Priest who 
would be the gainer of these treasures, which they are 
always aiming at. 

* In reading this to the authoress for correction, it was observed that 
this part is so unnatural in itself, and so contrary to all our habits and 
laws, that it deserves some explanation. She replied, it is not unnatu- 
ral in Cuba, and needs no explanation to the residents of that island. 
Whether the sick in the Convents make any Will in this case, she 
never heard ; but thinks she should have heard, if this were the case. 
Her impression is, that the dying give it by a word to the Priests, to 
pay them for praying their souls out of Purgatory; and that the cus- 
toms of the Roman catholic church, and people, confirm this mode of 
conveyance, with the same certainty, as if it were devised by a sealed 
instrument, a deed acknowledged, or a last Will and Testament. But 
it is not in Cuba alone that this iniquity is practised. Mr. Stevens, a 
Methodist Minister of Boston, holds this language respecting the case 
of Patrick Ward of Baltimore. 

u Look at the following, with scores in one of your cities, in one of 
the middle states, known to be true, as the fact came out in the open court. 

" About four years since, a member of the Methodist church, who 
was a native of Ireland, accumulated by his industry a handsome pro- 
perty. He was taken sick, and remained so a long time. The officia- 
ting Roman Priest visited him, and was, apparently very kind to him, 
and his family, and won their confidence. The sick man at length be- 
came insane. The Priest advised a removal to the dispensary, of which 
the Papists have the control. The family consented, and he was placed 
under the care of the ' Sisters of Charity. 5 His Will was made pre- 
viously to his removal. He died, but behold! another Will appears, 
in which a large sum was left for the Priest in question, a large sum 
for St. Patrick's Church, and the rest for his lawful wife in Ireland ! 
The distressed family knew not what to do; there was his last Will 
with his signature. No money to support an action, their friends 
doubted the propriety of bringing one ; and it rested awhile. At length 
the case was tried, and it was shown that the deceased never was a 
Papist — that he had no wife in Ireland — that the plaintiff was his law- 
ful wife, then a widow, and that the Priest got the instrument drawn 
up, and obtained the deceased man's signature when in a state of in- 
sanity ! ! The counsel for the Priest was so affected, that he refused tc 
plead against the poor, distressed, cruelly-treated widow. 

" The deceased brother was a member of the church where I preach- 
ed in turn with other ministers. Must Popery be let alone ?" 

This is not a tale of the 12th century ; but of the Roman catholics of 
our own times and country, affording evidence of the depravity inhe- 
rent, through all time, and under every form of government, in the 
Roman catholic system of faith and worship. 



156 PRIESTS CAN ANNUL WILLS. [Chap. 

When they meet with a rich man, who they think will 
not live long, they will persuade him to go to the Con- 
vent, and prepare to die ; but he must leave them all his 
wealth.* 

I knew another trait of the wickedness of a Priest who 
belonged to St. Domingo Convent. I do not recollect his 
name. He persuaded a rich man, whose name was Don 
Vesta, a native of old Spain, who lay low with a con- 
sumption, to go to the Convent, and prepare to die. This 
man had a wife and three children. When he went to 
the Convent, he took all his money, and left nothing for 
the support of his family, except the house and furniture. 
He lived but a short time after he was taken to the Con- 
vent ; and, at his death, the Priest went and took posses- 
sion of the house, and turned out the poor widow with 
her three children, to seek a living for themselves. This 
family lived in the same square or street that 1 then lived 
in, which was the Pontra-street, leading out of the Pontra 
gate. The cruelty of this Priest was talked about very 
loudly. 

Shortly after this, he placed his Mistress in the same 
house, a young girl about sixteen, who had been led away 
by him ; and I was informed, by my Priest, that Antonia 
was formerly her Father Confessor in her father's house. 
They both have been at my house, when my Priest would 
have supper-parties. If I were to tell all I know about 
them, I should never have done ; I don't know one Con- 
vent on the island, where the Priests reside, but I have 
heard, or seen the intrigues, snares, and traps of wicked- 
ness carried on there. Still the church laws are very 
strict in regard to the obedience of the Priests. 

Whenever they go to hear the Confessions of a dying 
person, the Confessor will be placed in a Kitterine, that 



* So determined are the Priests to get possession of the money of their 
credulous followers, that many Popish divines teach, that the Bishops of 
the church of Rome have the power and the right of altering a man's 
last Will and Testament, whether the heir agrees to it or not. "Posse 
id facerc Episcopum illo ) {herede,} contradicente" Ligorj, Theol. de 
Privilegiis, G. III. N. 68.— Ed. 



XIIL] POPISH PROCESSION. 157 

is, a carriage, or Havanna chaise, with a candle burning 
in one hand, and a prayer-book in the other. He will be 
praying, while two young Priests are walking by his side ; 
one, with a death-lantern with a candle burning in it, and 
the anointing-oil, and the consecrated host, or Communion 
bread ; and the other, with a small bell, which he keeps 
ringing. This bell is to summon the people to the doors 
and windows, while the Priest passes, where they must 
kneel and Cross themselves. It is considered a great sin 
by the Catholics, not to perform this duty. If you are in 
the street, and meet the procession, you must stop ; and 
if walking or riding, the men must take off their hats, and 
Cross themselves.* When the elderly or strict Catholics 
meet the Priests in the streets, they kiss their habits in 
speaking to them ; and the poor and ignorant class of 
people, and especially the slaves, will kneel down in the 
street, and kiss their feet. This I have often seen done. 
When a young person, or a child, has been very sick, 
on recovering, it must go on penance from three to nine 
months. If a boy, he must put on a habit made in the 
form of the Priest's, with white cotton-cord round his 
waist, and a gospel-piece suspended round his neck by a 
white cord, and his head shaved like a Priest's.! His 

* The Journal of Commerce of this city, July, 1835, gives an account 
of two Americans in Mexico, who were violently seized and cast into 
prison, where they remained in confinement under the charge of the 
offended Priest, for refusing this homage. The following is a notice 
of the same event, which is found in the Pittsburgh, Pa. Times, 22d 
July, 1835. 

" Insults to citizens of the United States ! — Great excitement is said to 
prevail in Metamoras among the foreigners 7 in consequence of the im- 
prisonment of Messrs. Boyd and Lee, American merchants, and the 
subsequent harsh treatment they received. The Mercurio of Metamo- 
ras, says, that a few days before, the Parish Priest, while conveying the 
Sacrament in the usual cortege to the house of a sick person, was met by 
the above named gentlemen, who did not pay the procession those marks 
of reverence which are customary. The Priest, irritated, appealed to 
the spectators, ordered them to seize Messrs. Boyd and Lee, and throw 
them into a dungeon, which was done without the least hesitation on 
the part of the people, or interference on the part of the magistrates. 

t " The Papists pretend they borrow their ceremonies from the Jews. 
If true, bad enough. — Not true, however: — they are borrowed from the 
Pagans. — All the Egyptian Priests, as Herodotus informs us, had their 
14 



158 DRESS OF THE PRIESTS. [Chap, 

habit must be the same color as his Priests'. The Priests' 
habits are of different colors and different cut, according 
to the Convent they belong to : so that, when you see 
them, you may always know the Convent they belong to, 
A little girl, when recovering from sickness, must put on 
a habit, with a white cord round her waist ; and many 
other different forms of penance, they are put under. 

heads shaved and bald. (Herod. Lib. II. 36.) Thus, the Emperor Com- 
modus, that he might be admitted into that order, got himself shaved, 
and carried the god Anubis in procession." Lamprid, in Com. 9. 

The Jewish Priests -were commanded, not to shave their heads. Le- 
vit. XXI. 5. Ezek. XLIV. 20,— Ed. 



XrV.] MANUEL ANTONIA AND HIS MISTRESS. 159 



CHAPTER XIV. 

■" Stop ! ye are on the brink 
Of endless wo and ruin — sleep no more — 
The charm will soon be broken — ye will wake, 
And find the alluring hours that wooed you, o'er, 
And, rising like a fury, Vice will shake 
Her smoky torch, and in your heart ; s blood slake 
Its hell-lit fires ; and you will seek in vain 
The young days that have vanished." 

Percival. 

Father Manuel Anlonia and his Mistress. — His love-letters. — Prize in the 
lottery consecrated by the Priest to the Virgin Mary. — Lottery prizes 
are the gifts of the Saints in Heaven. — The Virgin Mary will not hear 
the prayer of Protestants. — Rosamond in deep despondency. — Intrigue 
of Father Panterilla to obtain the properly of his Mistress.— Suspicions 
against Panterilla relative to the sudden death of a certain wealthy for- 
eigner^ who died on Pantcrillah plantation. — In consequence of which 
Panterilla, is banished to Nciv- York, where he continued to exercise his 
Priestly functions. — Is eventually recalled to Havanna, and resumes his 
functions. — While in New- York, prevails upon two young ladies to ac- 
company Kim back to Havanna. — Mode of living in the Convents. — The 
Priests disguise themselves in citizens' dresses. — The Priests use no 
perfumery in their Sacerdotal habits, but use it profusely in their dress of 
citizen. — The Priests' hoorie, or oath. — ManueVs amorous playfulness. — 
The Priests' shaven heads a shield against robbery. — Priestly pastime. 
— From carousing they go to Confession, and to the celebration of Mass^ 
or to visit the sick, or bury the dead. 

I knew of another Priest belonging to St. Wanadou 
Convent, whose name is Manuel Antonia. He was about 
thirty years of age ; a Creole of very light complexion ; 
large black full eye ; round featured ; black hair ; and a 
rare instance of a Priest who looked well in his Priest's 
habit. He was born and educated on the island, to be a 
Priest. He had been living with an unmarried female 
about nine years, as his Mistress. This female belonged 
to New York, and has a mother and sister now living 
here. I have seen them, and have been at their house in 
New York. They are of the Jewish persuasion ; and 
this female was brought up in it. When she left New 
York, she was going to New Orleans with the child of a 
lady in her charge, to take it to its mother, who lived in 
New Orleans. When on her way, the vessel, which was 



160 - LOTTERY PRIZES THE GIFT OF HEAVEN. [Chap, 

commanded by Captain Andrews, was taken by some pi- 
rates, and carried into Matanzas, on the island of Cuba ? 
where she first became acquainted with Father Antonia, 
After being detained a few weeks, the vessel left the port, 
and she went in it to New Orleans. Antonia was con- 
tinually writing to her, wishing her to come to him, which 
she did, and placed herself under his protection, and was 
living with him when I left Cuba. She had become a 
complete idiot. Her mind was perfectly stupified, and 
sometimes crazed, by the influence of the Priest, and of 
his cruel and superstitious conduct to her. She has no 
desire to leave him ; as she believes, if she remains, with 
him, until she dies, he can save her soul. He makes her 
believe she will remain in Purgatory a short time, but he 
can pray her out of it into Heaven. I know this to be 
true, for I was well acquainted with them, while living 
there. I know at one time, she drew a prize in the lot- 
tery of five hundred dollars. The Priest persuaded her 
to lay the money aside, as he believed it to be a gift from 
the Virgin Mary, to help to prepare her soul for heaven. 
"When she died, it would purchase Holy Candles and pay 
for Masses, to be read, to help her soul out of Purgatory. 
This poor female believed him, and gave it to him, to 
keep for that purpose, when she dies. He has brought 
her to believe, that when he treats her unkindly and cru- 
elly, it is for the good of her soul ;* and her soul must 
always be persecuted, while in this world. When I told 
my Priest all this, he would tell me it was all right, and 
that she was wise ; that the money was given to her by 
the Saints above for that use ; and that I must pray to 
fche Virgin Mary for the same gift.f 

* I remember to have heard the editor of the downfall of babylon, 
Samuel B. Smith, who is a converted Priest, say, when explaining the 
cause of a weakness on his lungs, that he took cold while preaching in 
an unfinished chapel in Michigan, where the roof along the eaves, was 
open directly over his head, and the cold air came in a current upon 
him, from Sabbath to Sabbath, while preaching. He knew that he was 
suffering dreadfully for it, " but," (said he,) 'I did not mind it ; for I 
thought it was good for my sins." 

t See " Six Months in a Convent," bushel of gold, to be sent from 
Leaven. — Ed. 



XIV.] PROTESTANTS DUMB BEASTS. 161 

He would frequently give me money to buy lottery 
tickets ; and while these tickets would not be successful, 
he has often persecuted me, and told me that the Virgin 
Mary would not hear my prayers, because I was still a 
poor dead Protestant at heart ; (and he has compared me 
to the dumb beasts ;) that he believed this female was a 
true Catholic Christian ; that I was to be lost, and she 
would be saved. My feelings have been brought to such 
a state by what he would tell me of heaven and hell, that 
I became bewildered, and would sink down in despair, 
and remain so for weeks. In this state I would kneel 
down before the image, and cry out to the Virgin Mary 
for mercy. Oh ! then I could well repeat these lines : 

" Beneath the poisonous dart 

Of Satan's rage I fell; 
How narrowly my feet escaped 

The snares of deaih and hell! 

"Darkness, and shame, and grief, 

Oppressed my gloomy mind ; 
I looked around me for relief, 

But no relief could find." 

While writing this to the world, to let them know of 
my misery and suffering, and how blind and ignorant I 
have been all my life, until now, as to the right view of 
eternity, my heart is melted down. Oh ! I can truly say, 
I feel myself to be nothing ; that I can and do repent, 
with this frail body of mine, in dust and ashes, before the 
Lord ; and praise him, for the loving mercies he has 
showed for my poor immortal soul, in sparing my life, 
and bringing me out from among those Roman abomina- 
tions, and placing me in this Christian country ; he has, 
I hope and trust, placed me on the rock of safety ; and 
now I can say, 

"Deep on my heart let memory trace 
His acts of mercy and of grace ; 
Who with a father's tender care, 
Saved me, when sinking in despair." 

14* 



162 PRIESTS* INTRIGUES FOR MONEY. [Chap 

I 

I have written to this female several times, since I have 
been brought here ; but I have received no answer from 
her; I am informed that she died last summer. I have 
often, in this country, reflected on the fact, that the Priests 
do not cast off their crazed companions, as other men, 
under the same circumstances, would certainly do ; and 
I do believe it is partly owing to their superstitious fear 
of the Virgin Mary, lest she should avenge their cruelty 
to the poor victims of their vile lusts; and partly owing 
to the cherished belief that the female in this case is evi- 
dently bearing on her head the punishment of their sin of 
living together. While they behold their iniquity thus 
borne by another, they are content to put up with some 
inconveniences, rather than risk a change, that might ex- 
pose their own heads to a possible curse. 

I knew another Priest, Father Pan terilla, who belonged 
to St. Francisco Convent, and was chaplain to the sol- 
diers stationed there, outside of the Pontra gate. He had, 
by his snares and traps, for her money, gained the affec- 
tions of an American lady, who had accumulated a good 
deal of property ; but whose principles were as depraved 
as his own. Not Ions; after she had put herself under his 
protection, he persuaded her to purchase a plantation, 
about six miles from the city, on which they both went 
to reside, as he said his health was bad, and he thought 
the country air would be of benefit to him. Pie purchased 
a number of slaves, to work on the plantation, with the 
money of the lady ; but as she had been living on the 
island about thirteen years, she had some knowledge of 
their intrigues and wickedness, and some art herself, and 
she took the deed, and held her money fast, only giving it 
to him, as he wanted to make purchases. They had 
lived together on the island about two years; and, dur- 
ing the time, he seldom came into the city, to perform his 
duty as chaplain to the soldiers ; so that his friends 
thought he remained in the country to recover his 
health. 

During this time, a friend of his from Spain, arrived on 
die island, who was said to be very rich, and had then a 



XIV.] PRIEST SUSPECTED OF MURDER. 163 

large amount of money with him. He was in bad health, 
and far advanced in a consumption. Father Panterilla 
took this friend to his plantation, to remain there a few 
months, it being thought more healthy than the city. He 
had been there but a few months, before he was suddenly 
missed. He had an uncle living in the city, who madG 
many inquiries, and searched about for him ; but he could 
not be heard of or found. This created a great stir and 
confusion among the Priests. Shortly after, his body was 
found, buried on the 'plantation. I never heard who 
found it, whether his uncle, or some other individual ; 
but I was informed by my Priest, that the Bishop, and the 
Priests, had made arrangements with his uncle, to keep 
silent, for fear of a persecution against the Holy catholic 
church ; and that, if the Priest had taken the man's life, 
he must have been tempted by the devil ; and some other 
remarks he made upon it, such as these, — that if Father 
Panterilla had murdered and robbed the man, if he had 
not his heart on the deed, it was no sin ; and while the 
Old Adversary led Father Panterilla to be the instrument 
of his will in committing this murder, if Father Pan- 
terilla kept his heart fixed on the Virgin Mary, it was no 
sin. 

This Priest was obliged to leave the island : and he 
came to New York. This was in the first year I was in 
Cuba, A. D. 1828. He stayed and boarded in this city, 
in Walker-street, near Centre-street ; and remained about 
a year ; and learned to paint landscapes beautifully, while 
here. During thejime he was here, he sent for the Amer- 
ican femalj, who came to him. I saw her the morning 
she sailed, and also saw and read letters she wrote to her 
friends on the island, while she was there, stating that hei 
Priest was preaching in the Catholic churches of New 
York ; and if arrangements could not be made for him 
to return, he would settle in New York, as he had offers 
made by the Bishop to preach in the city. But I was in- 
formed by Manuel, that the Priests had made arrange- 
ments with the governor of the island for Panterilla to re- 
turn. The Bishop was obliged to give the uncle of the 



164 PRIEST 4ND HIS MISTRESSES. [Chap. 

murdered man a large sum of money, I do not know 
the amount ; but my Priest told me, that if Panterilla had 
not been a Priest, they would have committed him to the 
gallows. They both returned to the Island, and were living 
there when I left.* They persuaded two young ladies, 
who lived in Chatham-street, in New York, virtuous and 
poor, to accompany them to Havanna, promising to set 

them up in the Milliners trade. Panterilla and B. C , 

his Mistress,, who speaks three languages fluently, and is 
very smart, accomplished, and rich, passed for a wedded 
pair. After a short residence in Havanna, the young 
ladies found themselves in a snare among strangers. 
They demanded to be returned to New York free of ex- 
pense ; and, in their distress, wrote to a friend, to whom 
one of the young ladies was betrothed in New York ; and 
they also found friends in Havanna to bring the matter 

before the governor. He brought Miss B. C , Pante- 

rilla's Mistress, before him, and obliged her to pay the re- 
turning expenses of the young ladies, and threatened her 
that in a case of this sort again, he would send her to the 
Castle. The young ladies returned, under the protection 
of the young man, to whom one was married on their 
arrival in New York. All these things were well known 
and commonly spoken of among the Americans in Ha- 
vanna ; but I do not remember the names of the young 
ladies, nor have I seen or heard of either of them, though 
often I have inquired after them, since I have been in 
New York. 

My Priest told me, that the Bishop was going to send 
Panterilla to a Convent in Trinidad, because the robbery 
and murder had become so public, that it would be better 
both for him, and the rest of the Priests, if he went where 



* The iniquity of the Roman Priest having burst out in an act of in- 
sufferable violence, even in Cuba, he was obliged to .fly before the ter- 
rors of justice. He took refuge in New York, and amused himself 
with his pencil, in a private way, and publicly ministered at the Roman 
altars in this city. So it happens, that when their vices make them in- 
tolerable in Havanna, they can find unholy employment in New York, 
guiding the citizens of this free country in the ways of Rome. 



XIV.] MODE OF LIVING IN CONVENTS. 165 

he was not known ; and the Bishop did not wish to send 
him to Spain, or to the Pope ; because he had a father 
living in some part of Spain, who was a great Priest in a 
Convent ; and there were a number of Priests then living 
in Cuba, who were intimate friends of his father.* 

I would wish to remark iu particular, that I have often 
heard Manuel, and other Priests, say, they did not like the 
new governor so well as the former one, who left the island 
about a year before me. The present governor was more 
strict; and I heard the citizens say he was a far better 
man than the former one. You could not bribe him to 
do any criminal act. After the old governor had made his 
fortune, he left the island for Spain.t 

I will here relate, as near as I can, their mode of living 
in the Convents, where the Priests reside. I have been 
informed by Manuel, that their diet is principally soups of 
the richest kinds, poultry, eggs, and fish. They take claret 
wine, instead of coffee, for breakfast, dinner, and supper.t 
This must be of the best quality. Each Priest has his 
own plate, goblet, and knife and fork ; and, after a meal 3 

* I knew two Bishops in the United States to act in the same manner, 
in respect, however, to other crimes. — En. 

t In this simple manner Rosamond notices a fact most notorious at 
the present day, to all readers of the New York newspapers, to wit : — 
that the new governor of Cuba has introduced a new order of things 
in Havanna. She states what she had heard the Priests say on the one 
hand, and what the citizens said on the other. She does not affirm a 
word of her own knowledge about the new governor, but many things 
in the Narrative impeach the righteousness of the old governor. He 
would take bribes, and do all corresponding iniquity. Him the Priests 
liked. But they like not the new governor, because he is "more 
strict." 

He is strict. A merchant of the first rank in this city, who has spent 
a short time in Havanna, observed of him : — " He is a most extraordi- 
nary man. He has abolished gambling. He has introduced a police 
that makes the life of a man almost as safe there, as in New York. As- 
sassinations have almost ceased. And when formerly money would 
accomplish any thing in the way of a breach of the laws, now it is pos- 
itively refused in every form, as a bribe to turn aside the execution of 
rigid justice." The same is the frequent testimony of the public prints, 
repeated for a year or two past; and this of Rosamond falls in with it, 
as the little rill with the mighty stream, bearing distinctive marks of it* 
own in the current. 

t This is the Clerical custom also in France. — Ed. 



166 PRIESTLY SUPERSTITION. [Chap. 

each takes and washes his own utensils, and lays them 
aside, until he returns again to his meals. Their servants 
are not permitted to handle them, as they believe their 
hands are not holy enough.* When they sit down to 
meals, they Cross themselves in prayer ; and after prayers, 
on rising from their meals, they Cross themselves, and go 
to wash their dishes. On laying them aside, they Cross 
themselves again. I never knew my Priest enter, or leave 
my house, (that is, when I had my reason to know him.) 
without Crossing himself.t They never retire to their 
beds without chocolate, wine, and confectionary. I have 
never seen the Priests partake of their common Convent 
meals ; but while I was in the Convent with Manuel, his 
table was supplied with such, and he informed me that 
was their mode of living. He was always in the habit of 
taking supper in my house ; and then, he was not so par- 
ticular about his knife and fork, and plate ; but would al- 
ways Cros$ himself, and say a few words in Latin, when 
first seated at the table ; but I cannot say he was so par- 
ticular at rising from table. He would always take care 
to have his bottle emptied. 

Manuel used to make his call at my house, during the 
day, in his habit ; but in the evening, as soon as he entered 
my house, he would lay aside his habit, and put on the 
dress of a citizen; and on leaving the house, put on his 
habit again. The alteration would be so great in him, 
when dressed as a citizen with his wig on, that he could 
pass by his intimate friends, and not be known by them. 
I am sure if I had first become acquainted with him in a 
Priest's habit, I never should have lived five years such a 
gloomy and wretched life as I did; for when dressed in 
their habits, they do not look like natural beings on earth ; 
even their complexion changes. He was a fine-looking 

* The reader will perceive a much better reason for this, in the nat- 
ural fear that souls so abused with religious profession, and intoler- 
able oppression, as the servants of the Priests in Cuba are, might have 
something in their hands, when they cleansed the dishes, more danger- 
ous to the bodies, than unholy hands of the servants could possibly be to 
the souls of the Priests. 

t This is their custom every where.— El. 



XIV.] THE priests' hoorie, 167 

man, when dressed as a citizen, a little above the middle 
stature, and was admired for his easy and polite manners 
by his friends. He and all the Priests have their pockets 
in the wrist of the great sleeve of their habits. Here they 
always carry their money. The Priests are very particu- 
lar never to allow any perfume of any sort on their conse- 
crated habits, or on their persons, while dressed in their 
habits. But the Spanish gentlemen and ladies make great 
use of perfumes ; and the Priests, when they put on their 
citizen's dress, indulge themselves freely in this common 
luxury; wetting their heads, and hands, and handker- 
chiefs with cologne. 

Every morning Manuel would carefully wash his head, 
to remove all the scent of the perfume, before he resumed 
the Priests' habit. I have often asked him why he was so 
particular ; and what was the harm of the perfume to the 
consecrated garments. He would always exclaim : u O, 
Rosettee !" (so he called me,) " Ka, ka, esta, esta, sta 
mallo !" — This is a common expression for something 
very bad and horrid. Before I came to fear him so 
much, I have often plagued him for my sport, by sprink- 
ling cologne water on his habit, or on him when dressed 
in his habit. He would jump up as if aquafortis came 
on his head ; and in evident distress, exclaim as above : 
" O, ka, ka, esta, esta, sta mallo !" and tell me, if I knew 
how wicked it was, I would never do it. I have forced 
him to grant me small favors, by holding up the cologne 
bottle, and threatening to throw cologne on him ; and 
when he had promised, I would make him seal it with a 
hoorie, that is, a Priest's oath ; and then I would be satis- 
fied, and lay down the cologne. This word is spelt in 
Champerra, whoorie ; and the act is done by placing the 
thumb across the middle of its nearest finger, to form a 
Cross, and then, touching the thumb nail to the lips. In 
making me hoorie, he was always very particular, to see 
that I put my thumb across the middle of the finger, for 
fear that I would cheat. 

When going out with him, in the evening, to the " Place 
de Armos" (that is, the place where the people resort for 



168 PRIESTL\ >. ap. 

amus urmg mi meet with 

his ' Priests, who ; would 1 < 

in d T tfier, and 

. in all kinds of in- 
i informed, that if the 

Pries g tlioir 

they 
will not hurt them. 4 T P sts say i the 

s 
9 

T - . and it 

their houses, witl 
with them. v F ich, s 9 anish. I 

\ mi amongst them. There they would 

. with wi - de- 

tion, and remain until thn ck is the 

ng cards : and sin<r- 
j on the g 1 Ted, tliat 

they w< re not so particular a s and 

sayn g said to be 

in tb »ts; bat they would, at tin iem- 

Ls t] ■ 90 much in the hal g it. it 

became natural to them, and an almost involuntary DO 
ment I know it to be true, thai the next day. and. per- 

- a few boon after tl 
they would go to the Convents, and would Confess to the 
of the Convent, and then, they would be 

ritual, and relig 
duties >r hearing < osatthepti- 

Altars ii 

1M hen he would h j 

my house, that he was g g that morning to such 

a lady, or man. who g perha] - to a 

house, where th tipee laid out, to say prayers 

ovlt the body. When I tirst went to live with him. and 

* II em to plunder thieves. 



XIV.] ROSAMOND JEERS HER PRIEST. 169 

he would tell me he was going to pray over the corpse of 
any one, I would laugh at him, and tell him he was wick- 
ed ; but when I had become better acquainted with him, 
all this freedom forsook me. 
15 



170 FATHER PIES AND HIS MISTRESSES. [Chap. 



CHAPTER XV. 

"It is the pirate's cursed bark ! 
The villains linger to decoy ! 
Thus bounding o'er the waters dark, 
They seek to lure, and then destroy !" 

Miss L. M. Davidson. 

Father Pies, and his Mistresses, and his lap-dog. — Seduces the wife of a 
wealthy citizen, and is betrayed by the barking of his lap-dog. — The 
husband rushes in upon them, and bites his wife's nose nearly off. — 
Father Pies 1 amorous and wicked letters now in the hands of the 
Authoress of this Narrative. — He was the Confessor of the public crimi- 
nals. — A wealthy lady imprisoned under a false pretext in order to get 
her money. — What the diabolical pretext was. 

I can inform you of a Priest, who belonged to St. 
O'Christo Convent, whom I knew well. He was about 
sixty years of age, small face, and sandy complexion. 
His name was Father Pies. He was chief Father Con- 
fessor to the criminals about to be executed. He wore a 
snuff-colored habit, with a leather belt round his waist, 
and would walk with a cane. His hat was of black 
straw, except on duty in a procession, when he wore no 
hat. He was always accompanied by a little white lap- 
dog, which he appeared almost to worship, when walking 
in the street. I have been informed by Manuel, and 
others, that he supports a great number of poor families, 
where there are daughters. He visits them, as his Mis 
tresses, in their father's houses. They are from twelve to 
eighteen years of age, and are all living near his Convent. 
The other Priests give him the name of " Father Dolce? 
(" sweety.") They say he is such a favorite with the 
young girls, and wins their affections, and obtains the 
consent of their fathers. His little dog once caused him 
a good deal of trouble, by betraying him in one of his 
wicked intrigues with a married lady, to whose house he 
used to go daily, to hear her Confessions. 

When they were both retired alone to a room, but not 
into her Holy Room of worship, where her Saints 7 images 



XV.] A DEAR CONFESSION-DAY. 17! 

were, her husband unexpectedly came home. He was a 
wealthy man, but very dissipated. He was intoxicated 
at the time, and inquired of his little daughter, where her 
mother was.— The child said her mamma had gone with 
Father Pies, to tell the Virgin Mary how wicked he was. 
This excited him, as he was in liquor, and he searched 
for her. Finding her Sacred Room empty, he walked to 
another room, which he found fastened. Knocking at the 
door made the little dog bark. This caused him to break 
open the door ; and aiming his violence, first, at his wife, 
he bit her nose half off, which disfigured her in the face 
until this day, if she is living, and she was, when I left 
the island. I have seen the lady often since it happened. 
Father Pies made his escape from the house, while the 
husband and wife were at combat. 

Their violence caused great alarm to the neighbors, 
who came to see what was the trouble. The husband 
made no ceremony about making public the whole truth 
of what had taken place between his wife and Father 
Pies. Father Pies sent Captain Antony, a Spanish officer 
of the army, "to Don Varilla, (for that was his name,) to 
make some settlement. I don't know what amount he 
was obliged to give Don Varilla ; but Manuel said, " that 
was a dear Confessing-day to Father Dulcet In the 
island of Cuba, occurrences similar to this take place so 
frequently among the Priests, that when another happens, 
the first soon dies way. I have often seen this Father 
Pies, when in the procession with poor criminals going to 
be executed, (which is a dreadful and horrid sight.) He 
always walked at the side of the criminal, with a candle 
in one hand, and a prayer-book in the other, talking and 
praying with them, until they arrived at the gallows. I 
have seen him, during the solemn scene, wink his eye, 
and smile at a female. At executions, he would be 
dressed in a white habit, with two or three yards of beads, 
and an image of our Saviour, and a Cross, hanging round 
him. I have often told my Priest, that if I was going to 
die, I would not wish Father Pies to pray for me ; and he 



172 LOVE-LETTERS OF FATHER 1'IES. [Chap, 

would say he was chosen by the Saints above for that 
office, and he was a good man. 

1 have never known or heard so much of Father Pies 7 
cruelty, or wicked intrigues, to rob people of their money, 
as I have of other Priests ; but I have always heard about 
his weakness, in falling in love with every female he saw. 
I have some letters in my possession at this time of his 
own handwriting, which I feel it my duty to spread out 
to the world. They contain the sentiments of his own 
wicked heart, penned by his own hand. The lady, to 
whom he addressed them, was at that time living on the 
island of Cuba ; but is now living in New York.* I was 
well acquainted with her at the time Father Pies was 
writing to her, and my motive in making his letters pub- 
lic, is, to show the inward sentiments of his own heart, 
and then for the world to decide, if he is a- true and holy 
Christian Priest, and one of the chosen servants of the 
Saints above, as my Priest told me he was. It was his 
duty to Confess the poor criminals who were sentenced to 
be hung, and to instruct them in their last moments, how 
to repent, and prepare their dying souls, to .meet at the 
Judgment Seat of Christ. 

I lament much, losing my letters with my trunks, at 
the time I lost them ; as you will see in my Narrative, 
how I lost them on my way from Philadelphia to this 
city. I had letters written by my Priest's own hand, 
which he sent me at the time I was living with him ; and 
if I had them to expose to the world, they would show a 
great deal of the wickedness of different Priests. 

Father Pies once called at my house with Manuel, to 
take some refreshments, as they both had been to the 
prison that day, to hear the Confession of a lady who 
was put there by her husband ; so that he could leave 
her, and go to Spain, with all her property. My Priest 
had been her Father-Confessor some years. Father Pies 
had been to see some criminals, who were shortly to be 
executed. I will inform you how this Spaniard managed 

* See these letters in the introduction to this Narrative. 



XV.] PERFIDY OF BON W — . 173 

to get rid of his wife, and go off with her property. This 

Spanish gentleman's name was Don W L . He 

was a native of Spain, and his wife was a Catalan 
Spaniard. They lived about three miles from the city. 
He was a dyer by trade, and had accumulated, with his 
wife's assistance, a good deal of money. She had a cha- 
racter for being a good and industrious woman. They 
had lived together about twelve years, and had three 

sons. Don W had treated his wife cruelly for some 

time, and had tried many schemes to prove she was not 
honest ; and would appear to be jealous of her, for which, 
it was said, by those who knew her, that he had no cause. 
My Priest informed me, that in her Confessions to him, 
she told him she was afraid of her life with her husbanci 
She used to have Masses said for him, and was always 
having the evil spirits burnt out with Holy Candles around 
her house ; for which she was called a good and holy 
Christian by those I heard speak of her. 

Don W succeeded, however, in effecting his 

wishes, at last, and possessed himself of her property in 
this way. He hired a Spaniard, a native of Cuba, no 
better than himself, but notorious for his dissoluteness, to 

come to his house at a time when Madam W ■ was 

very unwell, and confined to her bed-room. He came, 
pretending to inquire for a servant-girl that he wanted to 

hire, as Don W kept servants to hire out by the 

month. He told the servants that he was acquainted 
with their mistress, and would walk into her bed-room, 
which he did, and drew a small bolt for an inside fasten- 
ing of the door unperceived by Madam W , The 

customs and habits on the island are so different from 
what they are here, she did not think it any harm for a 
man to come on business into her sick-room, as he wished 
to have one of her slaves. 

Don W knew the precise time he would be there 

in her room, and he came home with three commissaries 
in company. In their presence he inquired of his ser- 
vants where their mistress was. They told him she was 
in her bed-room, and that a gentleman was there with 
15* 



174 WITHOUT MONEY, NO MASSES. [Chap. 

her. Don W *. went with the commissaries to the 

bed-room door, and finding it fastened, he directed them 
to break it open. The sudden alarm, and the strange 
voices outside the door, and the violent entrance of three 

strangers into her bed-room, frightened Madam W , 

so that she knew not what she did ; but she sprang from 
her bed, and flew to this man for protection, when the 
commissaries entered, and found them together. Madam 

W fainted. The family and neighbors, in alarm, 

came in to see what was the matter. Her fright made 
her appear guilty in the eyes of all, as this man, found 
with her, was well known for his vile habits. Don 

W had his wife taken by the commissaries, and put 

into the Cathedral, which is a prison. He then sold his 
house and slaves, and changed all his estate into money, 
and left the island with his three sons for some part of 
America. I have heard Manuel say he was here in New 
York ; and Manuel was well acquainted with the Father- 
Confessor of Don W . 

This took place about a year before I left the island, and 

made a good deal of talk. But as Madam W was 

left poor and penniless, and had no rich friends to bribe 
the Alcades, or judges, or to fee the Priests, her situation 
was hopeless. When her money was all gone, the Priests 
were at no pains to comfort her blinded mind with Masses, 
and candles, and prayers, for her husband and dear 
children, which they would have been forward to do, if 
she had possessed money or rich friends. Then she 
might have had all the Priests on the island around her } 
and they would have kept her mind well employed with 
Masses, Confessions, penances r and burning candles ; but 
she was deprived of all these comforts for the want of 
money ; as Manuel, who was her Father-Confessor, told 
Father Pies at that time, he should not go to see her again, 
for he had told her long since to take what money she 
had, and leave him, and find another Confessor : that she 
had not taken his advice, and he should not trouble him- 
self any further about her :; and laughed, and said, " Don 



XV.] PRIESTLY BARBARITY. 175 

Yf was no fool ; he can have a fine choice in Ame- 
rica; for he had a good store of money." 

I asked Manuel if he thought it was right to leave Ma- 
dam W— — , when she was in trouble. The answer he 
made was, " Ka sta mallo" and, I cannot spend my time 
with her for nothing. 

I saw a person that had seen Madam W in prison, 

and had conversed with her, just before the cholera broke 
out on the island, who told me that she had not, at that 
time, any prospect of ever being liberated from prison, as 
the laws of the island are such, that she must be in prison 
until her husband appears, and takes her out. It was said 
that her mind had become bewildered and childish. 



176 DESCRIPTION OF HAVANNA. [Chap. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

''Gold many hunted, sweat, and bled for gold ! 
Waked all the night, and laboured all the day ; 
And what was this allurement, dost thou ask? 
A dust dug from the bowels of the earth, 
Which being cast into the fire, came out 
A shining thing that fools admired, and called 
A God ; and in devout and humble plight 
Before it kneeled, the greater to the less. 
And on its altar, sacrificed ease, peace, 
Truth, faith, integrity ; good conscience, friendsi 
Love, charity, benevolence, and all 
The sweet and tender sympathies of life ; 
And to complete the horrid murderous rite, 
And signalize their folly, offered up 
Their souls, and an eternity of bliss." 

POLLOK. 

Kiome description of Havanna. — The Priests afraid to trust their servant \ 
en marketing . — The people drink ivine out of their Priests' mouths. — 
They think the food from his hands, is blessed. — The Priests become ac- 
quainted with domestic concerns through Confession. — It is the custom 
for man and wife, to have their domestic disputes in the presence of their 
relations. — To have Mass said, is the way to settle disputes. — The 
Priests sell blessed Candles to perform conjuration or witchcraft. — Su- 
perstitious fear of the Priests. 

The houses in Havanna are built of stone, mostly one 
story, but they are very large and roomy. The parlours 
and bed-rooms all. extend on one level. The rooms are 
very long and lofty y painted with landscapes, or flowers, 
very showy. They have no glass in the windows, which 
are large and high, extending nearly from the floor to the 
ceiling. Instead of glass, they have iron bars arched out- 
ward, about five or six inches apart, to secure them from 
robbers. They have strong shutters inside. Their fur- 
niture is very rich and beautiful, gilded very much, which 
makes it appear very rich and tasty. They have no fire- 
places in their houses, as the climate is warm. They 
cook with furnaces in the yard. Their parlours and bed- 
rooms are lighted with chandeliers ; and they make use 
of no lamps or candlesticks. House-rent is high, from 
eighty to a hundred dollars a month, for a comfortable, 
decent house. You must buy all your water. It is car- 



XVL] SINGULAR CUSTOMS. 177 

ried about from the public fountains, by negroes, in half- 
barrels on their heads, and sold two pails full for six cents. 
It is so poor, that it must be purified with a small piece of 
brimstone. This lies undissolved at the bottom of the 
jar, where the mud settles, and will purify for months. 
The markets are very filthy. Meat, poultry, and vege- 
tables, are suffered to lie in market, on the ground. They 
have no stalls for them ; and they are high in price. Ve- 
getables are in great variety, and good at all seasons of 
the year. Fish and poultry are good. Pork is thought 
to be better than beef. The Spaniards in Havanna are 
very fond of pork, which is commonly fried with plan- 
tain. 

The Priests have their select places for market. They 
never trust their servants to go alone. One Priest will al- 
ways go with them. Neither do they suffer their servants 
to cook their food alone. There is always a Priest to 
overlook them in the kitchen ; the same Priest who goes 
to market, also for that day oversees the kitchen, and this 
office they take in turn. They say it is to bless the food. 
I knew some Catholic families there, who were so super- 
stitious and blind, that' when the Priest called on them, 
and took wine, which it was customary to offer to them, 
he would take the wine into his own mouth, and after 
Crossing himself, his friend, or friends, they would take 
and drink it from his mouth. They believe it is then 
blessed and holy. I have seen it done myself; and my 
Priest has told me, that it is frequently done in high and 
respectable families. When sick, they also send for the 
Priest to come and feed them. They think the food from 
his hand is blessed. 

When a gentleman is paying his addresses to a young 
lady, their courtship is mostly carried on in the presence 
of the family ; and when she gets married, if she has any 
property, it is settled upon her in her maiden name ; so 
that her husband cannot spend or make use of it without 
her consent, and she transacts all her business in her 
maiden name. The Priest knows all about their court- 
ship from her Confession. I have often heard Manuel 



178 MARRIED LADIES* GALLANTS. [Chap. 

say. how such and such were going to be married. They 
generally marry distant relations, so that their property 
may remain in the family. A wife not only transacts bu- 
siness in her maiden name, but generally °;oes by it. 
The Priests always call them by their maiden name. 

It is customary in the highest circle, among the nobil- 
ity, for a married lady to have her gallant.* to escort her 
about to the amusements, and a man to have his Mis- 
tress. As I have said, there is not much virtue or moral 
principle possessed by them ; and if a husband becomes 
jealous of his wife, or a wife of her husband, they will 
have their disputes in the presence of all the family, or 

* For a corroboration of this shameful Popish custom, we will give 
the following, from Sismondi's "History of the Italian* Republics.'' 
^Ve wiU observe, in regard to this author, that his " History of the 
ln Republics,*- a work in 16 v with a good deal of 

cand; Bring that he was a Papi^ r . and that he published his ela- 

k in Italy, immediately under the very eye of the Sovereign 
iff This work, for reasons which we have not room here to ex- 
plain, has escaped the condemnation of the -: Expurgatorial Lvdex.'' 
We see that the "Catholic Miscellany" oi Charleston, and other Po- 
pish papers in the Uniied States, quote from this author as from good 
authority; and it is to be presumed they will not refuse us the same 
privi. 

Sismondi describes the manners and customs of the Italians, and es- 
Clergy, in a manner calculated to excite both our pity 
: on tempt. 

The :n which he gives Oi the gallants of married ladies, is 

as follows: — ; " One of the greatest public masfbrtnness, in Italy.' 5 (says 
he.") ,: and st every family, is the s:ain to the sacred 

jf marriage, by another bond which is acknowledged; and consi- 
dered as honorable, and which strangers in Italy always look upon with 
the same surprise, without comprehending it ; and this is the ' Cicis- 
fieri Serventi' This direful custom was introduced in 
the 17th century, by the example of the Court, and being placed under 
the protection of all the vanities, the peace of families was banished from 
ali I:aly.— No husband any longer regarded hi< wife as a faithful com- 
panion. — They could no longer seek counsel of her in doubts ; or sup- 
port in adversity. — They found her no longer a saviour in danger, or a 
comforter in despair. — No father could be assured, that the children who 
bore his name, were his own ; and. in fine, every domestic relation was 
poison 

" These Cavalieries were gallants that. wi T h the consent even of the 
husband, always escorted the lady out on her visits, walks, and shop- 
ping, and to the theatres, balls. &c, and back home again ; the nusband 
attending to his business or pleasure elsewhere.'' Sismondi. Hist ItaU 
T. XVI. p 221.— Ed. 



XVL] TRIESTS IN DOMESTIC CONCERNS. 179 

friends who may be present, and both sexes have jealous 
dispositions. Whenever they have settled a dispute, they 
will go to their Priests, and Confess, ,and have a Mass 
read. That seals the settlement. It is generally known 
that the Priests get a good deal of money for candles and 
Masses, to be burned and read in the Convents, from per- 
sons going to law, to bewilder and craze the mind of their 
adversary. I have known Manuel to perform this office, 
and he has given me money, which he said in the act of 
giving it, that he had received that day, for this sorcery 
of the Mass and red candles, to confound an adversary in 
the court of law. This is done in the higher classes 
among the rich people. The power of the Priests in this 
particular, is generally believed. I have seen so much of 
their wickedness, and conjuration, and malediction Priest- 
craft, that 1 could not help believing it. Each have their 
own Priest ; the man his and the wife hers. My Priest 
has often told me, when a married lady came to him, to 
Confess, she would tell him all about their disputes, and 
what her feelings were towards her husband. In telling 
me, he generally sympathized with the wife. Whatever 
the Priest told her to do, to regain the affections of her 
husband, she would believe, and do. Her husband would 
likewise complain of her to his Priest, to subdue her by a 
curse to submission, when he could not persuade her by 
his love, and would have Mass said on her head.* I have 
known Manuel often to have this duty to perform. The 
wife will also buy candles of her Priest, to burn nine 
days, with nine Masses, upon her husband's head, but I 
never knew a man to buy the. red candles. The Priest 
tells her, that he will bless them in such a way, that by 
her burning them nine days, and his reading of the nine 
Masses, her husband will become humble and submissive 
to her. She must pay the Priest for these candles and 

* This " saying Mass on the head" is an idiomatic expression among 
the Papists in Cuba. The meaning of it is, not that the Mass is actually- 
celebrated on the head of a person, but merely that it is celebrated or 
said with a view of being applied to some particular person and for some 
special object.— Ed. 



180 CANDLES FOR CURSING. [Chap. 

Masses.* The Priests do sell candles to the people to per- 
form conjuration or witchcraft, (or ?nalediction as the 
natives call it.) It may be thought to be my weakness, 
but I tell the truth: I have bent my knees before Manuel, 
and cried, and begged, that he would not do so ; that he 
would not say Masses, and burn candles on my head ; and 
that he never would make me crazy. One Sunday, in 
particular, I felt very wretched, and when Manuel came 
in, I told him, on my knees, I knew by my wretchedness, 
that he had just been saying a Mass on my head, and 
begged him not to do so. He <sank into a chair, pale and 
faint, so that I left caring for myself, and brought him the 
cologne. He gave no explanations, but did not leave the 
house again that day, except for evening oration in the 
Convent ; after which, as his custom was, he would put on 
a citizen's dress, and go out to the public amusements. 
Manuel has often told me, that no one had the power to 
injure a Priest. 

It will be seen in my Narrative, at the time I was living 
in New Orleans, that I have gone myself to the Catholic 
Priest, and bought candles, for which I gave a five dollar 



* There are some Papists in the United States, who deny that money 
is received by the Priests for saying Mass. And they have frequently 
said, that if such could be proved to be the practice of the Church, they 
would renounce it. To these, I say, it is the universal practice of 
the Priests, acting according to the doctrine, and under the authority of 
their church, not only to receive pay for Masses, but to exact it. This 
is one of the principal sources of their revenue. I myself, who was 
once a Popish Priest, was forbidden by a certain Bishop in the West, 
from ever saying a Mass gratuitously for any one whomsoever, how- 
ever poor and needy he might be. 

For the proof of what is advanced, that is, that pay can be exacted for 
the saying of Masses, I could refer to hundreds of Popish authorities. 
From them all, it will be sufficient to select two who stand the highest, 
and these are the Angelical St. Thomas, and St. Ligori. The former 
says, speaking of Masses, " Gratis tamen, fyc." — " Spiritual favors hav- 
ing been previously bestowed, the fixed and customary oblations, and any 
other proceeds whatsoever, can be exacted from those who are able and 
unwilling to pay." Thorn. Aquin. 2, 2 q. 100, A. 3. — St. Ligori says, 
that " a Priest is allowed to take pay for Masses, because it is the com- 
mon practice of the whole church, and, because every laborer, whether he 
be rich or poor, is worthy of his hire." Ligor. de Euch. L. V. C. 3. 
— Ed. 



XVI] SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES. 181 

note, a free-will offering, to burn on a gentleman's head ? 
to gain him to buy me a valuable servant, and a Brussels 
carpet, and for other like purposes ; and the Priest knew 
what I wanted them for. It was done in the same man- 
ner as you would go to a fortune-teller, or conjurer, to gain 
any thing by their black art. I know my wicked heart 
would not have been too good to have done the same at 
Cuba, if I had not been living with this Priest ; for I was 
so blinded, I thought he had power with the Saints to pre- 
vent my doing any thing to him by sorcery. Seeing and 
hearing so much of their Priestcraft, my mind and feel- 
ings were eaten up with superstition and misery ; as the 
minds of all are who fall under the blind guidance of the 
Roman Priests in the island of Cuba. 

Their minds are all destroyed by superstition, and the 
Priests themselves are eaten up with it. Many ladies, 
who professed to be of the first respectability, when talk- 
ing to me about living with this Priest, would say, that he 
could pray for the curses of the sin of our living together 
on my head ; but made me promise not to tell him, as 
they believe that a Priest can go into any house, and leave 
a curse on any one, if he be displeased. They are so su- 
perstitious, that if one individual has any thing against 
another, and calls at his house, when he is gone, the 
householder will rise, and Cross himself, and sprinkle 
Holy Water after . him ; or, if one friend calls upon 
another, and is in trouble, or unfortunate, when he leaves 
the house, those in the house will burn incense, and 
sprinkle Holv Water round the house. This is done in 
the most respectable families ; and I need not pretend to 
tell how much more superstition and Priestcraft is carried 
on among the lower and ignorant classes of the people. 
16 



182 SCHEME OF A PRIEST. [Chap. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Though you, and all the kings of Christendom, 

Are led so grossly by this meddling Priest, 

And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust, 

Purchase corrupted pardon of a man, 

Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself; 

Though you, and all the rest, so grossly led. 

This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish, 

Yet I, alone, alone do me oppose 

Against the Pope, and count his friends my foes. 

Shakspeare. 

Scheme of a Priest to get possession of the estate of Poiicheetee, one of their 
female devotees. — He?' private chapel. — Mode of penance — Becomes a 
mere skeleton. — Counting of the beads in the street. — She commits the un- 
pardonable sin in judging the Holy Priest ; for which she is enjoined a 
severe penance. 

There was a poor woman, who was a strong and su- 
perstitious Catholic, a native of Old Spain, who had been 
living in Cuba fifteen years. I was in the habit of going 
to her house often. Her husband was a bad man. He 
died in Moro Castle, in Cuba, a number of years since. 
At the time I first knew her, she had been informed by 
some of her friends, that her uncle had died in Spain, and 
had left her property to the amount of a hundred thousand 
dollars, which, I believe, was true ; for so, it was gene- 
rally reported, and Manuel told me it was true. Imme- 
diately after she heard of it, she went to a Priest belong- 
ing to St. Convent, which stands on the hill, back 

of St. Wanadou, to ask his counsel and advice. His 
name was Father Francisco. He advised her to employ 
a lawyei to send to Spain for the Will in writing, and to 
take, for her, the possession of the estate. Francisco him- 
self engaged the lawyer to transact the business. The 
lady's name was Poiicheetee. She was obliged to go with 
the lawyer and Priest, to the governor, to give her proofs, 
that she was a niece of the deceased, before they could 
send to Spain. I have seen the Priest and lawyer at her 
house on this business, and have drunk wine with them, 
for they never fail to offer the Priest wine. She, being a 
poor woman, had not wherewith to buy large images of 



XVIL] poncheetee's penance. 183 

the Saints, and the Virgin Mary, to decorate a private 
room for worship, but was obliged to have her images in 
her bed-room, which had nothing in it but a cot, and 
some old faded Saints, that had been given her. Neither 
was her Virgin Mary dressed in rich apparel, but looked 
as if she was forsaken, and had become poor, like her 
worshiper. 

After they had it all arranged, the Priest, the lawyer, 
and the heiress, they sent to Spain. Her Priest was very 
attentive to her, in calling at her house every day. She 
then went under penance for a year, to gain a blessing on 
the arrangements which were made ; wearing a coarse blue 
striped loose dress, with a leather belt round her waist, and 
her hair combed straight back, braided, and hanging down 
her back. She wore half sandals, and no stockings. She 
was not permitted to §it in a chair at table, or to use a 
knife and fork when eating : but would take her meals on 
a dressed morocco skin, on the stone floor, using her hands.* 

* By this Roman discipline, the Priest placed Poncheetee in close 
confinement, and cut her off from the intercourse of society, without 
exciting a suspicion in her mind, that she was under bonds, stronger 
than iron chains, and was restrained by customs, higher and less pene- 
trable than prison walls. How could she visit, or receive company, in 
her garb of penance, her leather-belt, her hair braided down her back, 
her naked feet in sandals! A few might approach her, such as were 
in like misery with her, under the Roman yoke; but no one able to ex- 
pose the Priest's wrong, able to contend with the oppressor, *■ able to 
make war with the Beast" would be likely to visit so forlorn an object 
of Priestly deception. 

By this power of inflicting penance, and by the true " doctrine of 
devils" that self-inflicted pains gain the Divine favor, the Roman 
Father Francisco shut up his victim, as effectually as ever a fly was 
taken in the toils of the spider's web ; and he wore out her life in this 
confinement, with false hopes, suggested to the mind, and with severe 
hardships, exacted of the body ; fasting, kneeling, watching, hoping, and 
obtaining nothing, but death at last. 

" Ye shall knoio them by their fruits" 

Every Roman catholic must see that the forms of his church enable 
the Priests to impose in this manner on the people of their charge. 
And the history of the world, and the experience of mankind, show, 
that power always has been abused by Priests or magistrates, where the 
line of succession is formed by the rulers, and not by the people. The 
abuse of power is not peculiar to, Roman catholics or to Priests ; but it 
is common to those who have power, independent of the control of the 
people. 



184 SAINTS AND RELICS. [Chap, 

I have been at her house often, when she has been eating, 
and have partaken of her fare with her off the floor. They 
think it a sin to refuse, when asked, to eat or drink with 
any one under penance. Her rule was, whenever she eat 
or drank, to Cross herself, and call on the Virgin Mary 
before sitting down ; and as soon as her meals were fin- 
ished, to go to her bed-room, where there were always 
candles burning before the relic,* and the images of the 
saints, and kneel down and pray to them. Her knees had 
become callous by kneeling on them, bare, upon the hard 
stony floor. She worshiped her images nine times a day : 
at six o'clock, at nine, at eleven, twelve, three, five, seven, 
ten, and eleven. Then she retired to bed, Which would 
be a bare cot, without a pillow, or any clothing. 

Every Friday she would fast, and scarcely rise from 
her knees. All Catholics fast, so far, as to abstain from 
meat on Friday. When praying and Crossing herself, 
she would strike on her breast with such force, that you 
might hear her stomach ring, as she was nothing but skin 

* Such is the veneration that the poor deluded Papists entertain far 
relics, that " even the very hair that fell from Peter the hermit's mule, 
was treasured up as a precious relic." So says their own historian 
Guibert, L. II. C. VIII. This is the Peter who led on the Crusades 
against the Holy Land. 

Henricus, one of the Romish Divines, maintains, that the relics in the 
form of ashes or dust, may, and ought to be adored, but not under the 
form of vermin; but their great Vasquez rejects this scruple, and the 
grounds of it, as vain and frivolous; and concludes they may be wor- 
shiped as well when they are vermin as when they are ashes. Vasq. 
An. 34, in Spondon. Cap. Ulto. N. 113., 114. 

It was, for ages, palmed upon the deluded Papists, that it was the real 
blood of Christ that was exhibited in various churches in Europe, and 
which they adored. But, afterwards, when the heretics, (so called,) 
asked, "How this could be'?" since the doctrine of the Romish church 
is, " quod semel assumpsit nunquam reliquit" — " that which Christ once 
assumed, he never lept." — To this the Angelical Doctor Thomas of 
A *\uin, gave the following answer : — " Sanguis autem Me" fyc. — " The 
bxood which is preserved in certain churches, as a relic of Christ, did 
not flow from the side of Christ, but is said to have flowed, in a miracu- 
lous manner, from a certain image of Christ that was struck" Thom. 
Aquin. III. Glues. 54, Art. 2, ad 3. 

Valla, a person of great learning and eminence among the Papists, 
says, that " at Rome there are ten thousand different sorts of relicsJ* 
Vaila de Constant. DonaL— Ed. 



XVIL] poncheetee's credulity. 185 

and bone. She would pray, and talk with the Saints' 
images, as if they were actually human beings before her.* 
At this time, she was not pleading with them to forgive 
her sins, but praying for this money, sometimes the tears 
streaming down her cheeks, and sometimes getting angry 

* " How have we renounced the devil and his angels, (says Tertul- 
lian,) if we make images? (simulachrum.) How can we be said to re- 
pudiate those things not only with which, but by which we live? — Can 
"we deny with our tongues what we confess by our hands? — Destroy by 
our words what we confirm by our deeds ? — Can those who have many 
gods preach that there is but one God 1 — I make the images, some will 
say, but I do not worship them. — Wherefore, then, do they make them, 
if it is not right to worship them? — V # erily, they worship them, who 
make them that they can be worshiped. — If honor is due to an image, 
doubtless the honor to the image is idolatry. 

" We are to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to Gog 
what belongs to God; that is, the image of Caesar, to Caesar, which is 
upon the coin ; and the image of God, to God, which is in man. — To 
Caesar, indeed, the money belongs, but you belong to God ; — otherwise 
what would be for God, if all belongs to Caesar?" Tertul. de Idololat. 

Jerom, whom the Papists claim as their own great Saint, settles the 
controversy between us and the church of Rome at once, in respect to 
what constitutes idols. His words are as follows :— " Idola intelligi- 
mus imagines mortuorum." — " By idols we mean the images of the 
dead." Hier. Com. in Isa. C. 37. 

Tertullian confirms the above, when he says, " Quid enim" fyc. — 
<c What is there so worthy of God, as that which is so unworthy of 
being an idol? — And what is there so worthy of being an idol as that 
which is dead ?" Tertul. Corona Militis. 

The Popish historian, Mariana, speaking of the multitude of mi- 
racles believed in Spain, exclaimed, after having described some of 
them, " Methinks I am writing Fables or Romances ; but many of this 
nature are recounted in the Chronicles of Spain, which I will neither 
condemn nor approve of" Marian. His. Esp. L. VIII. C. 10, 

He dared not openly condemn them for fear of the Inquisition ; and 
he could not approve of them for conscience' sake. 

So completely infatuated is the Popish church, and her devotees 
upon the subject of miracles, that they will have them to be performed 
even in confirmation of a lie. In proof of this I will give an example 
from Mariana's History of Spain, which is now before me. 

"Casilda, the daughter of the king of Toledo, and Zaida,of the king 
of Seville, whose fathers were Moors, were converted to the faith by 
the following incident: — Casilda was very compassionate, and fre- 
quently used to relieve the captive Christians. These acts of benevo- 
lence offended her father, who met her, one day, carrying meal to them. 
He asked her what it was? — she replied, ' they were roses;' and, un- 
covering it, they found the meat converted into those flowers. This 
miracle moved them to embrace Christianity." Marian. Hist. Esp. L, 
IX. C. 3.— Ed. 

16* 



186 SAINTS FROM THE PRESS. [Chap, 

and out of patience with them. She was upwards of fifty 
years of age, and very thin. 

Every month on the island there are issued from the 
Press, Saints, with prayers under them, (a few words in 
Latin,) printed on an octavo page of paper, and carried 
about the streets for sale, at twelve and a half cents 
apiece. These are sold by boys and the servants of the 
Priests for the benefit of the Priests. She had her bed- 
room papered over with these prints of different Saints, 
which she had bought. She was still obliged to continue 
paying the Priest for Masses, which he read, to make the 
Saints propitious to her claim to the deceased uncle's es- 
tate, with money which she begged her friends to give 
her. I have given her money, when I knew what she 
wanted it for, until Manuel found it out, and said : — 
Father Francisco had more money than he had, and I 
must give her no more. He then told me that Poncheetee 
never would get any of the money left by her uncle ; that 
Father Francisco had the deed of the property already in 
his possession. This he charged me not to mention at 
the price of my life ; for he said it would do more good to 
the Convent, than to her. Manuel did not feel unwilling 
to have me visit Poncheetee. We loved to talk over our 
mutual troubles together. 

I often met this Priest, Francisco, in her house, with a 
prayer-book in his hand, after I was informed that he had 
got possession of the estate, and he would still be encour- 
aging her to believe that she would, sometime, get the 
money from Spain ; and, if not, it would be, because she 
was not faithful in her prayers. This made her scarcely 
give herself time to eat ; and whenever any lady called to 
see her, (which I often did, for I pitied her, and in her 
misery found company,) if it was prayer time, she would 
ask her into her bed-room, when she would be obliged to 
kneel, or sit down on the floor, until Poncheetee had gone 
through her ceremony. She would plead and pray for 
the Saints, to fix a time, when she should get her money. 
For the Catholics do not mind praying before any one, 
and you will see the females praying to their Saint's, and 



XV1L] FONCHEETEE A SKELETON. 187 

counting their beads, when they are going along the 
streets to church.* 

When I left the island, Poncheetee was laboring under 
the same state of mind she had been in, for two years, 
since she first heard of the money being left her in Spain, 
and she was a perfect skeleton. When I saw her last, 
which was after the cholera broke out, and but a few days 
before I left the island, some one had hinted to her, that 
the Priest would wrong her out of this money, and she 
had asked several Priests about it ; but they all rejected 
the idea ; and Manuel told her before me, that she had 
committed an unpardonable sin, and she must Confess to 
her Priest, and go under a deep penance, for harboring 
such a thought against her Father-Confessor. She ap- 
peared to be very much distressed, and I have no doubt 
she was. I am sure, if they put her under some penances 
I have known them to impose on others, she would never 
live through it. 

* Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do ; for they think that they 
shall be heard for their much speaking" Matt. vi. 7. 



188 EXECUTIONS FOR KILLING NEGROES. [Chap. 



CHAPTER XVI11. 

H Come, thick night, 
And pall thee in thy dunnest smoke of hell ! 
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes ; 
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, 
To cry, Hold, hold!" 

Shakspeare. 

The execution of culprits for the killing of negroes, and making sausages 
of their bodies. — By bribing the Priests, some of them are reprieved. — 
People rendered crazy by the malediction of the Priests. — The wealth 
of the Priests in proportion to their wickedness. — The wickedness she 
witnesses, too horrible to be described. — The Virgin can pardon all 
sins. — Avarice of t/ie Priests. — When the Priests fall in love with a fe- 
male, they induce her to enter into a Convent. — Priestly stratagems for 
seduction. — Females secretly armed icith the Spanish knife. — Priestly 
abominations too shocking and immodest to be related. 

Father Francisco, who was the Confessor of Pon- 
cheetee. was the Priest who obtained the reprieve of some 
of the robbers who were condemned for killing black peo- 
ple, and making sausages of them. This occurred just 
before, and at the time of my first coming to Havanna, 
about eight years ago. They were Spaniards, French- 
men, Italians, and Portuguese, who belonged to the gang. 
They had their trial while I lived on the island, and were 
condemned. I saw twelve of them hung. There were 
about fifty belonging to the gang. Some were sent to the 
Spanish mines. Of those who were reprieved was the 
captain. He had a great deal of money; and with the 
former governor, and the Priests, money would save any 
person's life from the gallows.* I have frequently heard 
people say, that they carried on their robberies two years 
before they were detected. They lived about two miles 

* Captain J. E. Alexander, in his tour through the West India islands, 
tells us that, " If a criminal has money, he may put off capital punish- 
ment for years, even after sentence is passed upon him; but he who is 
friendless and penniless, mounts the scaffold immediately after he has 
been found guilty of a capital offence. "" Alexander's Transatlantic 
Sketches, Vol. I. p. 357.— Ed, 



XVIIL] NEGRO-FLESH SAUSAGES. 189 

out of the city, by the Montserat gate. They used to 
seek out the young, and fat negroes, to make up the sau- 
sages. Those who bought and eat them, said they were 
the best they ever eat. They called them French sau- 
sages ; and people far and near would buy them. They 
were detected by two young negresses, who were sent out 
according to the custom of the city, with dry goods, and 
other articles for sale, in the streets, as is customary. One 
of them was fat and young. They called her into the 
house, pretending to want some of her goods ; and told 
the other to go along and sell. She waited opposite the 
house sometime, for her companion to come out, until she 
was tired ; and then went to the door, to ask for her. 
They told her she had gone out at the back door some 
time since, which alarmed her, lest they had robbed her 
of some of her goods, as it is not uncommon for the na- 
tives to call in those Mashons, who sell goods, to pilfer 
them ; and then the poor slaves are punished by their 
master or mistress most cruelly for the loss. If they die 
in consequence of their punishment, there is no law to 
inquire how they come by their death. 

The negress returned immediately to her mistress, and 
told her about her companion's going into the house, and 
not coming out again ; and she took the commissaries, 
together with the soldiers, who guard the city, and went 
to the house, to demand her slave, without thinking she 
was murdered. The commissaries saw all was not right, 
and sent for more soldiers to help them. When they 
reached the place, they found the girl in their slaughter- 
room, with her head cut off, and a number of other dead 
bodies, which they were cutting up. They took, at that 
time, eighteen of the murderers, and confined them in 
Moro castle ; and numbers of the others were taken after- 
wards, and confined in this prison. 

Father Francisco was one of the influential Priests, 
who signed the request which was sent to Puerto Prin- 
cipe, and to the king of Spain, in order to obtain the re- 
prieve of part of them. Those who were reprieved gave 
immense sums of money to those that obtained their par- 



190 FATHER P SUSPECTED OF MURDER. [Chap. 

don. The way I learned that Father Francisco had be- 
friended them, was through Manuel. When he told me 
that Francisco had got the power, and the will of Pon- 
cheetee's money, he added, that he was always fortunate 
in getting hold of persons who had money, and mentioned 
this instance of his befriending the cannibals in proof of 
it. Father Francisco had been living with a Spanish 
woman a great many years, and had a number of children 
by her. Some of them were grown up, but their mother 
had been crazy a number of years. I have heard the 
Catholic ladies say, he had prayed all the curses of his 
sin on her head, and that this was the cause of her being 
crazy. I never saw the woman, although I often passed 
their house ; but I have seen the children. They lived 
opposite St. Wanadou's Convent ; and Father Francisco 

was a great friend of Father P , who was suspected 

of murder, and was obliged to come to New- York, to re- 
main until the Priests, his friends, had arranged for him 
to return. Those Priests who had the most money, were 
those who had the most influence and power ; and those 
who were the most wicked, obtained the most money. 
I have heard that the former Bishop, who was deceased 
about two years before I left the island, was in the habit 
of signing papers, to favor the worst of criminals ; but 
when the latter Bishop came, who died of the cholera, it 
was thought he would not be so favorable. I have heard 
Manuel say, that the Priests generally did not like him so 
well as the one deceased. He had been appointed Bishop 
but a few months, before he died of the cholera. His 
death occurred before my escape from Cuba. 

1 have witnessed, and gone through most horrid and 
awful scenes, while living on the island, such as I dare 
not and can not bring my mind to inform the world of. 
The remembrance of them brings me to loathe myself, 
and my past life, and brings me to feel what obligations I 
am under to God, for sparing my life, and forbearing with 
me, when I also was living in rebellion against him. Oh, 
how plain I can see and feel his loving mercies, that he 
has had for my poor immortal soul, in not cutting me off, 



XVIIL] Rosamond's reflections. 19] 

and sending my soul to everlasting wo ; and in bringing 
me out from among them, and placing me among his 
chosen people in this Christian country ; and in opening 
my blind eyes to see and seek the right way to save my 
poor immortal soul! Oh, that I may always have death, 
judgment, and eternity in my view ! I know it cannot be 
long, (as this poor frail body is in a decline,) before my 
soul will go to Jesus. I have that faith, hope, and com- 
fort, that when it is the Lord's will to call me, Blessed 
Jesus will guard my soul through the dark valley of death. 

When on my dying bed I lay, 
Lord! give me strength to sing and pray, 
And praise thee with my latest breath, 
Until my voice is lost in death. 

Oh ! that serious thought, — the Judgment-seat, — where 
my soul must shortly appear before a holy and just God ; 
there to have all my wicked pilgrimage exposed, with all 
the wicked deeds that 1 have nourished and cherished in 
fny wicked heart all my life ! But now I cannot see God 
Wronged, or the Blessed Jesus wounded, but my heart 
luelts within me. 

While I am writing an account of my dark and wicked 
bilgrimage, to be read aloud to this evil and gloomy world, 
It brings me to see and feel more clearly what a sinner I 
have been ; and how merciful the Lord has been to me. 
Yes, — I can now look back, and see when I was in misery, 
in trials, and troubles, in a far and wicked country, I 
brought them upon myself. And I can see the blessed 
Lord was by me, and kept me from slipping down into the 
gulf of wo. I did not think so then. I saw many 
Crosses, and images of the Virgin Mary and the Saints, 
but it looked to me all like a show, until I was brought by 
the Lord to this Christian land. 

While I was in Cuba I heard much about Purgatory 
and hell, and I felt sure they must all go there, when they 
died, for I could see, that instead of trying to save the 
people, they were encouraging them to goon in the broad 
road to destruction ; and I felt, that if I died on the island 



192 THE PRIESTS REJOICE AT MURDER. [Chap. 

with this Priest, I should certainly go with them. I felt 
as if I wanted to be a Christian, but did not know how. 
There was no Christian friend there, to take me by the 
hand, and show me the way to the Blessed Jesus. I was 
living with a man, who was leading rne with himself, and 
all his people, down to the pit of wo. 

As I have said, you may murder, steal, or lie, according 
to their doctrine, if, at the time, you have your heart fixed 
on the Virgin Mary, and go immediately to some Priest 
to Confess, and hear Mass read. Thus the criminal is set 
free, until he is detected by the law ; and 1 have said it is 
not uncommon to hear, in the confession of a criminal 
who is to be hung, that he has taken the lives of many 
persons before he was detected. Manuel has often come 
home, during the day, and counted over the money he had 
gained by Confessing, and reading Masses for the dying. 
If any one had murdered or robbed, he would appear to 
rejoice in it, for the gain it brought him, and would say : 
" This has been a lucky day ; — I have never seen so many 
Priests out Confessing as I have to-day." — And at other 
times, when their wicked duty was dull amongst them, 
he would say : " he wished the Bishop would send him to 
some other place, where there was more money to be 
made." — Many of the other Priests wanted to leave the 
island ; some wished to go to one part of America, and 
some to another ; and many to the Valley of the Missis- 
sippi. 

Some appeared to have a greater desire to go to Ame- 
rica, than to some of the Spanish islands, for they say 
they are very partial to the American females ; as you 
will see in Father Pies' letters, which he wrote to the 
American lady at the time she was living at Cuba. If I 
Irad those letters which I lost in my trunks, in coming 
here, they would show the same thing. These letters 
w r ere written to me by different Priests while I was in 
Cuba, begging me to be their friend, and to take them to 
some lady ; perhaps to a married lady, or to a young and 
beautiful female, they had fallen in love with at church ; 
but I can appeal to my conscience, to my comfort, that I 



XVIIL] priests' love-letters. 193 

aever did comply with their request I used to hide their 
letters for the ladies, and lock them up • but I have oftent 
said to the Priests, that I had delivered them to the maiden, 
or married ladies, to whom they were addressed, when I 
had not 

While 1 am writing an -account of my wicked pilgrim- 
age. I can say, that the sin of leading or encouraging any 
of my own sex from the paths of virtue, I never have been 
guilty of. Whenever I was placed in snares of that kind, 
it would come to my mind, that I had a dear young sister, 
whom I had left behind. 

I often told the Priests falsehoods, how the ladies re- 
ceived their affectionate notes • for they plagued me so 
much, I was obliged to do it ; sometimes, to get rid of 
them/, and, sometimes, to flatter them. I feel the loss of 
those letters, and some other writings, which were in my 
trunks; for, I have a great desire to convince this Chris- 
tian land, how wicked those Priests truiy are. I have 
heard Manuel and others say, in our social circles, and 
boast of it, that, whenever they put their eye on a hand- 
some female, they wanted the power to get her, and gain 
their purposes ; and to persuade her to go into the Con- 
vent, and take the veil. 

I know many forms and ways they use, to effect their 
object, in destroying the innocence of virtuous females. 
One way they use, is to put young females on penances, 
unknown to their parents, in order to subdue them to their 
will. Delicacy must prevent my exposing all their in- 
trigues of wickedness ; one thing I will say, that these 
snares are laid for young girls of the first families. What 
would a mother think of a minister, to whom she was 
looking for instruction, who would tell her tales to obtain 
the ruin of a young and beautiful daughter, perhaps only 
twelve years of age? — for, among the poorer class of 
people, when the wicked Priest sees a young and beauti- 
ful girl, he will tell her mother, that he has a foresight and 
warning from the Saints, that so many crosses lie before 
h#r, and snares which she is to fall into, that she must im- 
mediately be given under his holy care They will also 
17 



194 KNIVES CARRIED IN ST0C&IKG3T, [Chap, 

say, that these misfortunes will happen in such a year ; 
and at such a time they will be murdered, or will attempt 
to commit murder, or to rob, or something similar. Some 
of the females, especially the natives, from the highest to 
the lowest, will carry a knife in their stockings. The 
mother will then deliver her daughter up to the Priest, to 
look after her. She will be trained up by him; and he 
will place Beads, and three Crosses, and the Gospel round 
her ;* and will be liberal towards the support of the whole 
family, until she is old enough to become his prey.t 

* This Gospel-bag is a certain talisman or charm worn, suspended to 
a string or chain, around the neck. It consists of some verse of Scrip- 
ture rolled up, and sewed in the bag. It is, indeed,, a fair representa- 
tion of the Gospel in the hands of Papists : — " it is hidden : — it is " a 
book sealed" 

There is another species of charm worn by almost every Papist, 
called the Scapular. This consists of two small pieces of cloth, which 
is also suspended to a string, and is worn around the neck. This is to 
protect them from all the accidents of life, from sudden death r from the 
power of the devil, and from hell. They are taught to believe, that the 
Scapular is a part of the Virgin Mary's dress. which, it is related, was- 
actually presented by the Virgin herself,, to one Simon Stock, on Mount 
Carmel. It is said, that the Virgin commanded him to establish a 
Monastery in her honor, and that she assured him, that whosoever 
should be found with a piece of that garment about him at the hour of 
death, should never go to hell, and that they should be delivered out of 
Purgatory on the first Friday after their decease. The Order was ac- 
cordingly established, and it still subsists under the title of the Order of 
the Carmelites. 

In order, however, to reap the highest benefits to be derived from this 
charm, they are taught, that if they are not addicted to mortal sins, and 
have no habitual attachment to venial sins, their souls will be received 
into heaven, by the Virgin, immediately after death, without being de- 
tained at all in Purgatory. To gain this Indulgence, however, they 
are bound daily to recite a certain number of prayers to the Virgin j 
otherwise, they would still have to suffer in Purgatory until Friday. 

For the proof that such, and precisely such, is the doctrine of the 
Romish church, on the subject of the Scapular, I refer to the " HistorT 
op the Scapular," which they all have in their own hands. I point to 
no one in particular, but to any one whatsoever, since they are all sub- 
stantially alike. 

It is very apropos, while we are on this subject, to state, that I was 
once, while a Papist, dupe enough to believe all the absurdities of the 
doctrine respecting the Scapular. I wore it constantly during many 
years ; and I was firmly persuaded that, if I died with it about me, I 
should not be lost; and that I would infallibly be delivered from Pur- 
gatory on the first Friday after my decease. — Ed. 

tThe Popish Priests, if their church is the infallible church, cannot 



XVIII.] PRIESTS ENSNARE TITE YOUNG. 195 

I was well acquainted with a little girl of sixteen, that 
my Priest had plunged into vice by measures of this kind, 

consistently be blamed either by any of their Bishops, their Popes, or 
their people, for having, at least, one fair object in the place of a law- 
ful wife. They cannot consistently blame them, I say, since, by their 
own Council of Toledo, in the 17th Canon, it was declared, that any 
person, Clergyman or layman, who has not a wife, but a concubine, is 
not to be repelled from the Communion, if he be content with one. 
"Christian© habere licit um est unam tantum aut uxorem autcerte loco 
uxoris, coneubinam." Pithou, 47. Bin. 1, 739, 740. Crabb; 1, 449. 
Gian. V. 5. Dachery, 1, 528. Canis. 2. 111. The Bishops, indeed, 
would not allow two women to one man, but any one might keep either 
a wife or a Mistress. This liberality of the Council of Toledo, was 
afterwards confirmed by the Head of the chureh, Pope Leo. Bin. I. 
737. 

This indulgence of the Council, and the Pope, has been inserted in 
the Canon Law of the Romish ehurch, edited by Gratian and Pithou. 
Gratian 1 s compilation of the Canon Law, it is true, was a private pro- 
duction, unauthenticated by any Pope ; but that of Pithou was pub- 
lished by the command of Gregory XI II., whose work contains the 
Canon Law as acknowledged by the Romish chureh. Dist. 34, C. 4. 
Pithou, 47. Thus, we see, that fornication is sanctioned by a Spanish 
Council, a Roman Pontiff, and the Canon Law. 

Fornication, in this manner, was, in the Clergy, not only tolerated, 
but also preferred to matrimony. Many of the Popish casuists, such as 
Costerus, Pigius, Hosius, Campeggio, and those reported by Agrippa, 
raised whoredom above wedlock in the Hierarchy. Costerus admits, 
that a Clergyman sins, if he commits fornication; but more heinously if 
he marry. Concubinage, this Jesuit grants, is sinful, but less aggra- 
vated, he maintains, than marriage. Costerus was followed by Pigius 
and Hosius. Campeggio proceeded to still greater extravagancy. He 
represented a Priest, who became a husband, as committing a more 
grievous transgression, than if he should keep many domestic harlots. 
"Gravius peccat si contrahat matrimonium." Cost. C. 15. The Car- 
dinal gives an odd reason for his theory. The Clergyman, he affirms, 
who perpetrates whoredom, acts from a persuasion of its rectitude or 
legality; while the other knows, and acknowledges, his criminality. 
" Gtuod sacerdotes fiant raariti multo esse gravius peccatum quam si plu- 
rimas domi meretricesalunt. Nam illos habere persuasum quasi recte 
faciant, hos autem scire et peccatum agnoscere." Campeg. in Sleidai^ 
36. Edgar. 

We learn also from Agrippa, "that the Clergy who married, were 
dismissed from the exercise of the sacred functions; while the Sacer- 
dotal fornicators, who violated the laws of God and man, were allowed 
to retain the holy ministry." Agrippa in Bayle, I. 111. 

Thuanus, the famous Popish historian, writing on this subject, says, 
that " it is absurd indeed, that Priests should be suspended from the ex- 
ercise of their functions on account of getting married, while whore* 
mongers, whc violate both the laws of God and man, are tolerated " 
Thuaa. 2, 417.~~Ez>, 



196 AFFLICTION OF THE MOTHERS. [Chap 

before I knew her. About a year after he had ruined her, 
she took the small-po£ ? which disfigured her, and he left 
her. Father Hosa, who went to the Valley of the Missis- 
sippi, as you will see in my Narrative, was guilty of the 
crime of raining a young girl of fourteen, by gaining the 
consent of her parents to his training her up. She died in 
child-birth, about two years after. I have heard him talk 
abput her, and say, if the child.had lived, and been a girl, 
what he would have done for her. I have seen her 
mother often at Poncheetee's house, where she would 
mourn much about her. and say, she never could rest, her 
child was always before her.. She was continually hav- 
ing Masses read, candles burning, and the body of her 
child laid by some Priest. She was a superstitious- Catho- 
lic, like Poncheetee, her friend. I could relate a number 
of circumstances of this kind, which I have been eye- 
witness of, and of others my Priest has told me, but their 
cruelty and immodesty are such, as to make me cover them 
from the public eye : they would hardly be believed, and 
they cannot be told.* 

* " How many soever of the members of the Church be dead and im- 
pious," (say the Popish divines,) "so long as there is any one man that 
retains holiness, the Church must be called holy." Costerus, Enchirid, 
L. III. C. 7. 

Therefore, the Romish church is holy, notwithstanding all the tilth 
she contains : — is true, in spite of all the errors which she propagates : 
— is a Dove, although every Pastor of her flock is a ravenous Vulture : 
— provided, however, that u one man can be found that retains holi- 
ness." — Ed. 



XIX. EXECUTION OP A LADY. IDT 



CHAPTER XIX. 

* There's not a hollow cave, nor lurking place { 
No vast obscurity, or misty vale. 
Where bloody murder, or detested rape, 
Can couch for fear, but I will find them out; 
And in their ear tell them my dreadful name, 
Revenge, which makes the foul offenders quake." 

Shakspeare. 

*The " Groting" or public execution of a lady twenty-one years of age. — 
The Priests get her money. — The burning of red candles on her hus- 
band? s head. — The relation of her extraordinary case. — She kills her 
husband, cuts up his body, and packs it in a barrel. — Is betrayed by her 
god-mother. — A Priest attends at her execution : his singular costume. — 
The Priest terrified by a black cat 

Now I will inform you about a married lady, twenty- 
one years of age, whom I saw " groted" while I was liv- 
ing on the island. They do not hang white convicts, 
but they are placed on a scaffold, in a chair, and strangled 
by an iron collar put round their necks.* This law was 
made by the queen of Spain, to distinguish the whites 
from the blacks. Sometimes a rich man will commit mur- 
der ; in this case the Priests will fare well ; for they will 
get money from the criminal for candles, Masses, and 
praying his soul out of Purgatory. They think it is not 
so much disgrace to be groted, as to be hung. 

This lady was born and educated in Havanna. Her 
parents were very wealthy, and natives of Old Spain. 
Her name was Mariettee. Her parents compelled her to 
marry a Catalan Spaniard against her will ; for she wanted 
to marry a Spanish officer. The Catalan Spaniard had a 
very dark complexion, his name was Roupee, and he was 
very rich. Before this young lady would marry him, she 
was put under heavy penances by a Capuchin Friar of 

* The convict sets upright in the chair. A board runs up behind his 
back, to a height above his head. The iron collar runs through the 
board and round his neck. The pressure is applied by means of a 
screw in the iron collar behind the board : as the screw is pressed honaq 
the collar tighten*;, and strangles the criminal. 

17* 



198 THE BARRELING OF A HTTSFAND. [Cfeap 

the name of Father Sobrisco. Manuel did not tell me 
what those penances were ; but I have heard, in cases of 
this kind, they are very cruel, and sometimes death. Ma- 
riettee lived a dreadful life with her husband three years ; 
for she loved this officer, and was in the habit of seeing 
him often, and her husband knew of it. She was in the 
habit of having Masses read by different Priests, and hav- 
ing red candles burning upon her husband's head. Man- 
uel told me she had been a number of times to him for 
Masses and candles ; and that it was expected, by a num- 
ber of Priests, she would destroy her husband in some 
way. 

It was said this officer had agreed to help her to mur- 
der him ; and the night was appointed for him to be there. 
During the day, she put laudanum into her husband's 
wine, to make him sleepy; and when night came, he was 
quite stupid from the effect of the laudanum and wine*;: 
and went to bed. The officer went to her house,, and she 
got all arranged for the murder ; but he would not stay,, 
and went away, promising to return shortly. She wait- 
ed; — and as he did not come, she, being alone, with the 
servants asleep in a back room, thought it was the only 
time, and stabbed him with a knife in several places, as he 
was asleep, stupified with the laudanum. He made no 
noise, and after she had killed him, she^cut him up, and 
put him into a barrel, as had been agreed on by the officer 
and herself; and he was to send some soldiers, who were 
to take the barrel outside the walls> and cast it into the 
sea. But he did not send ; and she waited till day4igl.it> 
and then went to her god-mother, and told her what she 
had done ; and begged her to send some of her servants, 
to put it into the sea for her ; which her god-mother told 
her she would do. She then told her to go home, and not 
to Confess to any Priest. Her god-mother, in the mean- 
time, sent to the commissaries, and told them what she 
had heard, and they went to the house, and found her 
smoking a cigar in the bed-room. They found no blood 
in the room, but the barrel was there, with her husband 
cut up in it. 



XIX.] MARIETTEE GROTED. 199 

She immediately confessed all to the commissaries ; and 
was taken and put into prison. All the Priests fared well 
for Masses and candles, as she had a great many rich 
friends. The Priests got a good deal of money from them, 
as well as from her. It was commonly said by the Priests, 
that she would not b)e groted } she had so many rich 
friends; and there were petitions sent to the king and 
queen of Spain, to have her reprieved, or transported to 
some part of Spain, signed by the Bishop, Priests, and na- 
tives of Cuba, as her friends. The ladies of the nobility 
thought it would be a disgrace, to have her publicly exe- 
cuted, she being a native of Cuba. Her friends gave a 
great deal of money to the Priests, and to some of the 
civil officers. Eut the queen would not reprieve her, and 
she was groted. 

I saw her in the procession, which was an awful scene 
to witness. She was placed in the chair, which was to 
be set on the scaffold, dressed in white ; and appeared to 
be lifeless. Father Pies was walking close by her side, 
dressed in a white habit with Beads, Crosses, and an image 
representing our Saviour, hung about him : a prayer-book 
in one hand ; and in the other, a long gilded pole, with a 
large Cross> and a candle burning at the end. The pole 
and Cross were trimmed with black crape ; and Father 
Pies was saying prayers for her. In processions of this 
kind, there are always about fifty men, who live in the 
Convents, as waiters to the Priests, dressed in black habits, 
and a kind of turban of black crape on the head, with 
poles, and Crosses, and candles, carried in their hands be- 
fore them. When the procession passes outside the walk 
of the city, at the Pontra gate, where there are soldiers 
stationed, sometimes there will be a table placed there, co- 
vered with white, having death-candles burning-, and 
Crosses laid upon it ; and sometimes a Virgin Mary is 
seated at this table, dressed in black. This is when the 
person to be hung" is rich, or has rich friends. 

In bringing this most horrible scene to my mind, it 
makes me feel more sensible of its horrors, than when I 
witnessed it ; for when you live in a country, where there 



200 THE PRIEST AND BLACK CAT. [Chap. 

are so many scenes and crimes of this kind, you get hard- 
ened to them. I have been laughed at by Manuel and 
others, for the effect it would have upon me ; and they 
would say, they did not think before this, that a Protestant 
had any feeling. I did not then know what they meant 
by insisting that I was a Protestant. I have often been 
persecuted by my Priest, because he said I knew, and 
would not own of what religion I was. The friends of 
Mariettee gave what property she and her husband had, 
to the Capuchins of St. Philippee Convent, which I was 
told by my Priest, was to pay the Priests for praying their 
souls out of Purgatory. I never heard that the officer 
was taken, or done any thing with. 

As all these dreadful scenes are now before my mind, I 
will tell you what took place at my house, the night after 
I saw her groted. Several Priests had been at my house 
that night, to supper. They talked a great deal about 
Mariettee, and of her guilt, and other crimes of a similar 
kind. Being drowned in superstition, in the belief of 
forerunners, and ghosts, and Purgatory, I was afraid of 
myself, and of every body about me. After they had 
gone, about twelve o'clock at night, I was waked up by a 
large black cat, which had got into the house in some 
way. Manuel would have some candles always burning 
in the bedroom, above which candles, he placed an image 
representing our Saviour, hung on a string of beads, and 
the Gospel-bag, and a prayer book on the table. He would 
also put his knife under his pillow, to defend himself from 
robbers ; for, in a citizen's dress, he would always fear 
them; but he was not afraid, when dressed in his Holy 
Habit. As the room was light, when I heard the noise, 
I looked up, and saw the black cat by my bed side, and I 
cried out to my Priest for help; but he was speechless 
from fright. I really thought it was the Old Adversary 
himself, come to take us both off. We both remained in 
this awful condition, till day-light. Sometimes the cat 
would be in my room, and sometimes in the parlor, mak- 
ing a most horrid cry. I never knew, till then, how much 
Priests feared and hated cats. Manuel informed me, that 



XIX.] 



THE CAT AND HOLY WATER. 201 



the Priests dislike cats ; and what a time it used to make, 
if a cat got into the Convents ;* and how they would in- 
stantly drive them out, and sprinkle the Convent with 
Holy Water, lest death would follow. They do not dis- 
like dogs ; but are generally very fond of them. 

I have mentioned this occurrence, to show what a su- 
perstitious state of feelings, both his and mine was. The 
fright actually made him sick for a number of days ; and 
he never went to bed, another night, without a good look 
out that there were no cats in the house. 

* The aversion to black cats is not peculiar to the Roman Priesthood 
of Cuba. From a relation given by the author of Ship and Shore, we 
find that sailors also are somewhat affected with odd notions about black 
cats. Speaking on this subject, he says, " This restless domestic is 
looked upon by the sailor, especially when afflicted with a black visage, 
with no kindly or tolerant feelings. There is no bad luck about the 
ship, which is not ascribed to some evil influence, which she is supposed 
to exercise. Hence, in a storm, or dead calm, poor tab has a tremendous 
responsibility. Our unfortunate puss had been taken on board at Ma- 
laga, and since her embarkation we had not been visited by one favor- 
able breeze. This calamity was attributed to her universally among 
the crew. There needed no language to tell what their sentiments 
were, for as poor puss came upon deck, so far from being petted, she 
encountered every where looks of Ihe most threatening aversion. 'Ne- 
ver,' said an old tar to me, 'did any good come to a ship that had a 
black cat in its concern. I have sailed,' he continued, ' on every sea, 
and in every kind of craft, and I never yet knew a ship make a good 
voyage, that went to sea on Friday, or had on board one of these black 
imps. These are facts, sir; land lubbers may laugh at them, but they 
are facts, and true as my name is John Wilkins.' It was no use to 
question the convictions of the seaman's experience; he was as confi- 
dent and deeply earnest as a man testifying to the indisputable evidence 
of his senses. So poor tab went overboard." — Ed. 



202 BEGGING FOR THE CONVENTS. [Chap. 



CHAPTER XX. 



1 He strewed 



The path that led to hell with tempting flowers, 

And in the ear of sinners, as they took 

The way of death, he whispered, peace ! he swore 

Away all love of lucre, all desire 

Of earthly pomp; and yet a princely seat 

He liked, and to the clink of Mammon's box 

Gave most rapacious ear." 

POLLOK. 

Manner of the Priests' begging for the Convents. — Money stolen to pay 
for Masses. — The Priest gives^ his Mistress the money, which had been 
stolen to pay for a Mass. — Jealousy about the fees for Confession. — Va- 
rious benedictions, and their prices. — Funeral, and other prayers^ with 
their prices.— The Priest's money is considered blessed. — Sin to p«y money 
without Crossing one's self. — Every action to be consecrated by Crossing 
one's self. — The Priests change their dress to gallant the females. — Two 
of the Priests sent as criminals to Spain. — The sudden and suspicious 
death of the Bishop. 

I will here mention the way the Priests beg for their 
Convents, and churches. Men are continually passing 
and repassing, from eight o'clock in the morning, till six 
in the evening, every day, dressed in the Priests' old 
habits, with a small box, carried in the hand ; on the 
front of which box the Virgin Mary is drawn on paper, 
and decorated with artificial flowers. They beg in this 
way, for money for the church ;* or if any Priest is dan- 
gerously sick in the Convent, his likeness will be drawn, 
lying on a cot-bed, and placed on the box. The money 
given into the box, is to pay for Masses and candles for 
the sick Priest. The money is dropped into the box 
through a narrow hole ; and the Priests keep the key. If 
a person has no money, he must take the box, Cross him- 

* Cicero, in his book of laws, restrains this practice of begging, or 
gathering alms, to one particular order of Pagan Priests ; and he allowi 
it only on certain days; because, as he says, " it propagate* superstition, 
and impoverishes families." Cicero de Legibus, Lib. 2. 8. 16; — which, 
by the way, shows us the policy of the church of Rome in the great care 
they have taken to multiply their begging orders ; which, in Europe, art 
numerous. — Ed. 



XX.] priest's begging money. 203 

self, and kiss the image of the Virgin on the box. If he 
gives moneys he must Cross himself, and kiss the image, 
after he drops the money in. 

There is also a man out three days before any one is 
hung, or groted, begging for money, in charity, to give 
the Priests for Masses and candles, to be read and burned 
for the saving of the criminal's soul. The beggar is 
dressed in a black habit, with a small pole about five feet 
long, with a large silver Cross at the end, and a large sil- 
ver plate in his hand. If it is a white man that is to suf- 
fer death, the pole is painted white ; and black, if a black 
man. It is a white man that begs for a white man ; and 
a colored, for a colored man. In either case the beggar is 
always accompanied by a Priest. When they give, they 
believe the Priest can pray the criminal's soul out of Pur- 
gatory, or, that they have such influence with the Saints, 
and the Virgin Mary, that their sufferings will be light. 
When begging is made for the Priests, no Priest goes 
along ; for the boxes are made in such a way, that the 
beggar cannot take any money out, neither must he re- 
ceive any ; but the giver must Cross himself, and drop it 
into the box. Sometimes, however, the beggar never re- 
turns to the Convent with the box. Bat when they beg 
for a convict, the money is put into the plate, and the 
Priest is by to watch it. They have from fifteen to twenty 
men, begging every day, for each Convent. The money, 
they say, is to pay for the Holy Candles they burn in the 
Convent. The lowest prices for Masses and Confessing, 
for white people, is one dollar ; fifty cents for colored per- 
sons. They cannot receive less than that, or its value. 

When Manuel saw any change lying loose about my 
room, he would caution me, and say, " my servant would 
take it, and think it no sin, if she went to some Priest and 
Confessed." 

When I told him I did not believe my servant would 
take any thing, he would tell me not to be too sure ; for 
if she did, and came to him to Confess, he would not tell 
me of it, or injure the girl. I lost a very costly belt-buc- 
kle, set round with diamonds, which was given me by a 



204 confession fees. [Chap. 

Marquis' lady, shortly after I was robbed, which I valued 
much : but never thought my girl took it. 1 had several 
presents sent me after I was robbed, by very wealthy la- 
dies, some of whom I never saw. One gave me a set of 
diamond ear-rings, which were in my trunk, which I lost 
in coming from Philadelphia to New York. This present 
was, probably, because she heard my ear-rings were vio- 
lently torn out by the robbers. Another sent me a dou- 
bloon wrapped up in a piece of paper. 

There were two large leather covered trunks, marked 
with brass nails, one A. G. the other R. 0. In the trunks 
were a number of letters, some of which were for persons 
in New York ; and many of them were old letters ad- 
dressed to me. Fine linen, and costly dresses, filled the 
trunks ; such as are common among the wealthy of Ha- 
vanna, but are very rare in this country. I note these 
facts in hopes that some of the contents of those trunks 
may yet be found, to confirm the accuracy of this Narra- 
tive, and to throw further light upon the works of Roman 
darkness and Priestcraft. I then told him I believed the 
girl had taken it, and given it to him for Masses. I did 
not believe it ; but I was angry at the loss of the buckle, 
and at him, for telling me, that if she had stolen any thing 
from me, and she should Confess it to him, he would not 
tell me. Then he called the girl, and asked her who was 
her Father- Confessor. She replied, Father Antonia, of St. 
Augustine's Convent. Manuel knew him, and went and 
asked him, and learned that he had had it at one time, in 
his possession, and that my girl had given it to him for a 
Mass ; but he had given it to his Mistress. Manuel made 
me promise never to mention it to the girl ; and said Fa- 
ther Antonia would charge her never to take any thing 
from me again. When I asked him, why he did not wish 
me to mention it to the girl, he said, Father Antonia wa$ 
a friend of his, and the girl would then go to some other 
Priest to Confess, and Antonia would lose the fees of 
Confession. For the Priests think as much of having a 
large number of penitents on their Confession list, as any 
newspaper publisher thinks of having a long list of su!> 



XX.] VARIOUS PRICES OF BLESSINGS. 205 

scribers. The Priests are very jealous of one another. 
The honorable among them, are particularly careful to 
do nothing that seems like taking from another ^Father- 
Confessor, his penitents. I was obliged to submit to this ; 
and never said a word to the girl about it, but kept her, 
trusting more to the charge of Father Antonia, never to 
take any thing from me again, than to her honesty. 

The price for blessing a house you are going to move 
into, or a new house, that is, to sprinkle Holy Water, with 
prayer, and read a Mass in every room, is one ounce, or 
seventeen dollars : — for saying a few words in Latin over 
a corpse, two dollars : — for going to a house to bless the 
sick or well, (they Cross them on the stomach, sprinkle 
them with Holy Water, and say Mass,) four dollars : — for 
going to burn out evil spirits from a house, (that is, to burn 
incense with prayer and a Mass, and Holy Water in every 
room,) four dollars. Nothing less can be N taken for these 
blessings: but the rich always give more. When I have 
been paying money for any little thing to poor people, who 
krww with whom I was living, they would say they liked 
to take money from me, for it teas blessed ; and when 
they took it, they would Cross themselves, and put it by 
itself. Manuel would tell me it was a sin to pay money 
without Crossing one's self. I never knew him to give away 
money/ or any thing else, without Crossing himself, and 
saying some word in Latin. When I first went to live with 
him, I laughed at his rules, until he brought me into fear 
of him. A Priest or Catholic never enters or leaves a 
house, without Crossing himself; and when gaping, he 
Crosses his mouth. Manuel would never put on, or take 
off his habit, without Crossing himself; but he was never 
so particular with his citizen's dress. 

The rule is for them, never to wear a citizen's dress, 
when they have once taken the habit ; also, never to ride 
in a carriage with any lady, or walk with one in the 
streets. When they once take. their habits, they vow ne- 
ver to leave them ; but they are not particular, when they 
have broken their rules by putting on a citizen's dress, to 
break it a«rain by riding or walking with a lady in the 



206 superstitions crossings. [Chap, 

streets. Manuel has often reproved me for not Crossing 
myself, when paying-, or receiving any thing, or gaping ; 
which practice through fear I learned, and got such a ha- 
bit of it, that it was some time after I came to this Chris- 
tian country, before I could break myself of it. How 
many lonely hours have I reflected on these past scenes ! 
and how I have been brought through, seeing and hearing 
all these superstitious and wicked rules ! You will see. 
in some after part of my Narrative, how the Cross which 
the Capuchin Priest put round my neck, at the time he 
christened me, worried me at the time I was under deep 
conviction. 

I feel as if I had a right and privilege, to express my 
thoughts about the conduct and principles of the Priests, 
then living on the island of Cuba. Whatever the result 
may be to Manuel Canto, the Priest I lived with, when 
my Narrative conies out, to be read to the world ; (it has 
already been read in heaven, where I must shortly appear 
at the judgment seat : and it will all be presented before 
me,) I think, from what I know about them, the result 
will be this ; — he will be privately sent to Spain, or to the 
Pope ; not but what all the Priests know themselves to be 
just as wicked : and, I believe, some are more wicked, al- 
though they may not have acted exactly as he has done ; 
but some are deeper in seductions, and other snares and 
traps of wickedness. The only difference I think there 
is in the case, is, that Manuel is the individual through 
whom the information comes out. He has not only ex- 
posed his own wickedness, under the cloak of a Holy 
Habit, but theirs also. Oh, how little have I been able to 
expose the many dark and gloomy places and corners 
which they have in the Convents, that I know nothing 
about, except what they themselves have told me! — 
They are all, however, known to God. 

Daring the time I was living with this Priest on the 
island, there were two Priests sent privately away to 
Spain. I never learned exactly all the particulars of 
what they had done to their religion, in exposing it ; but 
they had done something of this kind, and they were kept 



XX.] TRANSPORTATION OF PRIESTS. 207 

prisoners in the Convents several months, before they 
were sent to Spain.* They were confined in some cells, 
to which no -communication could be had, but by the Su- 
perior of the Convent. One belonged to St. Francisco 
Convent, of the name of Ferdinand ; the other belonged 
to St. Domingo Convent, whose name I did not know, or 
have forgotten it. I used to hear my Priest lament, and 
say rash things about the old Bishop, and some Priests 
who were the Superiors of other Convents. Before they 
were sent away, neither the Priests, the prisoners, nor 
any one, except the Bishop and the head Priests of the 
Convents, knew that they were going to be sent away to 
Spain, until the very hour of the day the vessel v/as to 
sail ; and, when they were taken on board by soldiers, as 
criminals, they did not wish to have it known. I asked 
my Priest what they would do with them, when they 
were in Spain. He said he did not know, but 1 could see 
by his countenance, he dreaded something horrible. He 
often spoke about them in conversation with the other 
Priests., who came to my house ; and he informed me, 
with regret, the very day they were sent away, charging 
me not to mention it to any one. 

How much more of their wickedness I could have 
learned from Manuel, if, at that time, I had any desire to 

* To such a notorious pitch of licentiousness the Popish Clergy had 
arrived, at the time when Pope Benedict XIV. sat upon the throne, 
that this Sovereign Pontiff, (as St. Ligori himself tells us,) was under 
the necessity of issuing a Decree, in order to put a check to the conti- 
nual and multiplied accusations which were laid by, the people against 
the Clergy. The Decree ends as follows: — " If any one soever dare to 
infringe or disobey this our will and command, let him know that he 
will incur the wrath of Almighty God, and of the blessed Apostles, 
Peter and Paul.— Given at Rome, in the church of Holy Mary the 
Great, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord, 1741." Ligor. Theol. 
de Rom. Pont. Dec. C. II. Dec. L 

Such was the fixed determination of the Holy Father, that the people 
should not accuse the Clergy of their nefarious deeds, that he forbids 
il any Priest whatsoever to give them absolution, except in the article 
of death." Id. in. 

" The Clergy are by no means subject to the civil law," says the same 
Saint. Ligor. Then}, de Privilegies, C. II. N. 18. The Canon Law, St. 
Thomas Aquin, Bellarmine, Dens, and all the Popish Divines, without 
exception, tench the same doctrine, — Ed. 



208 SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF THE BISHOP. [Chap* 

know, cannot be told now. When he brought his friends^ 
among the other Priests, to the house, I have heard them 
consult about the affairs of different Priests, in the Con- 
vents, and about their late Bishop> who died of the 
cholera. He was appointed but a short time before he 
died, but, as I said, it is all known to God. The Bishop 
who died of the cholera did not suit the Priests at alh 
They were sure he would not continue long in his office, 
He died unexpectedly to the people, and was buried pri- 
vately, which led the people to talk much about it, when 
they compared his unknown burial with theluneral of the 
old Bishop, which was so splendid* 



XXL] THE PRIEST IN DISGUISE. 209 



CHAPTER XXI. 

M He was a wolf in clothing of the lamb, 
That stole into the fold of God, and on 
The blood of souls, which he did sell to death, 
Grew fat ; and yet, when any would have turned 
Him out, he cried, 'Touch not the Priest of God. 5 " 

Pollox. 

The Priest in disguise. — The Convents a harbor for robbers and murder- 
. ers. — The criminal refugees in the Convents cannot be apprehended by 
the officers of the civil law. — By day, the criminals lie concealed in the 
Convents, and by night, prowl the sir eels. — The Priests are well paid 
for screening criminals in the Convents. — The Priests rob on-? another 
even when dying. — An account of a Priest and his chest of Money. — 
Suspicions exit of inmates of the Convents. — Robbing a Priest synony- 
mous with robbing the Church. — The Priests, when superannuated by 
vice and dissipation, are employed in the Convents as domestics. — To be 
good, in Spanish Popery, signifies to be 'wealthy. — The effects of Priestly 
vice conspicuous in the disfiguroMo'n* of their faces. — Priest testifies 
against Priest, that he is possessed of the devil. — Priest turned fortune- 
teller ; he makes the people kiss his frogs, scorpions, and devils. — Tlie 
Bouquet or picture to frighten prof Agate Priests into virtuous ones. — 
The awful impressions made by seeing the Bouquet, made instrumental in 
determining Rosamond to escape from Cuba. 

I will mention here, that they have a Catholic Priest 
living in Havanna, and one in Matanzas, who are of Irish 
descent. Their duty is to Confess, and instruct their own 
country people, or any foreigners, who live in Havanna. 
The one in Havanna does not live in a Convent with the 
other Priests ; but in a house aloiiQ ; neither does he 
wear a habit, nor have his head shaved. The only thing 
by which you can know him to be a Priest, when you 
meet him in the street, is the stock he wears, made of dif- 
ferent colors, either blue or white, in stripes. His name 
is Father Bailey. 

I have seen him, but had no acquaintance with him. 
I am not afraid to say, from what I have heard from the 
Priests, that their Convents harbor gentlemen, and sons 
of the nobility, who have robbed or stabbed any one, or 
clone something of this kind. Their parents or friends 
can put them into the Convent, to remain : so that they 
18* 



210 PRIEST AND HIS CHEST OP MONEY. [Chap. 

are not taken by the officers of the civil law ;* and they 
will come out at night, in disguise, to see their friends, 
and remain all the day in the Convents. I mention this 
to let you know, what the Priests will do for money. I 
have heard from some of the Priests, that they will even 
rob each other of money .t 

There was a Priest, who died in St. Francisco Con- 
vent, at the time I was living on the island, an elderly 
man, of the name of Father Sedoha, who died in a con- 
sumption, after an illness of about two years. He had a 
large sum of money, which he kept in an iron chest. I 
do not know the amount of his money, but my Priest said 
it was a large amount. He kept it by the side of his bed, 
and, for several months before he died, he used to count 
it over, for fear some one had robbed him. A few weeks 
before he died, he became delirious ; and he still conti- 
nued counting it over. When he died, it was all missing. 

T * In Popish countries, the churches, Monasteries, and Cardinal's 
palaces, are a sure refuge from the law. " A man guilty of the great- 
est crimes," (says Petrarch,) " had only to take refuge in the court of a 
Cardinal's palace, and he could not be pursued by justice." Dob. Pe- 
trarch, L. VI. P. 451. 

Middleton, in his "Letters from Rome," writes as follows: — "The 
Popish Asylums are continually open, not to receive strangers, but to 
shelter villains ; so that it may literally be said of these, what our Sa- 
viour said of the Jewish temple, ' That they have turned the House oj 
prayer into a den of thieves.' " Matt. xxi. 13.— Middleton's Letters, 215. 
—Ed. 

t This Priestly trait of robbing or stealing from or.e another, is by no 
means to be limited to the island of Cuba. Such conduct I have fre- 
quently witnessed among them in the United States. They stole from 
me, when I was oneof their number, and I have known them frequent- 
ly to steal from one another. One of them, a certain Rev. Mr. K , 

with a false key, entered the room of one of his comrade Priests, during 
his absence on a missionary tour, broke open several of his trunks and 
boxes, and robbed him of various articles to a considerable amount. 
The Priest returned, missed the articles that were stolen, suspicion fell 
upon the guilty, search was made, and some of the things stolen were 

found in the possession of his Reverence Mr. K . I, myself, was one 

of those who made the search; therefore, I can personally testify to the 
truth of what I state. 

For a fuller detail of this transaction, I refer to the 52d Number of 
the 1st Volume, and to the 1st Number of the 2d Volume of the " Down- 
fall of Babylon," a weekly paper, published by myself, in the city of 
New York.— Ed. 



XXI.] PRIESTS ROBBED BY ALCOWATERS. 211 

The Superiors of the Convent made a great stir about it, 
and a number of Priests were suspected of having taken 
it, and Manuel among the number. At this time, Manuel 
told me, that occasions of this kind frequently took place 
in the Convents. They would rob from each other even 
when dying. They nearer are robbed by their servants ; 
for when they are sick, their servants are not allowed to 
wait on them. The Priests wait on each other, 

I believe, from what I have heard and seen amongst 
them, that many a poor man whom the Priests will get 
into the Convents, to be their servant, will be suddenly 
missing, without any one but the Priests knowing where 
he is, or what has become of him ; but it is known to 
God. A servant, who attends the Priests, is more obe- 
dient and humble, than a poor slave, in serving and aid- 
ing them in all their wickedness. I have been eye-wit- 
ness of some of the wickedness of their servants ; but 
they appear to do it in fear. Sometimes the Priests are 
robbed by their Alcowaters of their citizen's clothes, when 
they are taking them to, or bringing them from their 
houses. The Priest cannot leave the Convent in a citi- 
zen's dress. When they have robbed a Priest in this way, 
and the Priests pursue them, they do not tell what they 
have been robbed of, but will say, the Alcowaters have 
robbed the Church ; and when they are taken, they pun- 
ish them cruelly.* 

I will mention here what I know of some of the old 
Priests, who were living in" the Convents, and who had 
formerly been Priests of high standing in their churches ; 
but through dissipation and wicked vices, were laid aside.t 



* This is striking, — and shows how well the Authoress was versed in 
the technical qnaintness of Jesuitism. She was thoroughly initiated 
inlo the mysterious subtleties of Priestcraft, or this idea would never 
have glanced across her mind. — How simple ; how unaffected ; and yet 
how wonderfully varied are the facts which she discloses ! — Ed. 

t Cardinal Bellarmine, describing the degeneracy of the Priesthood, 
in the days in which he lived, the 17th century, and contrasting it with 
the holiness of the primitive times, represents the answer they would be 
wont to make him, as follows: — "But we are no longer in those days," 
(some of you will say,) ' and things are entirely changed. ' — 1 grant that 



212 PRIESTS MADE SERVANTS. [Chap. 

They were still maintained in the Convent. Some of 
them were employed as door-keepers ; others, in keeping 
the Convent clean, and various other offices, as they were 
old and decrepit. They were permitted to wear the old 
habits. I have heard it remarked of them, by Catholics 
of good standing, when seeing them pass in the street, as 
they go on commissions for the Superior Priests, (and you 
can tell them by their old and faded habits, they look poor 
and forsaken,) it would be remarked : " Look at that poor 
Father ! but a short time since, he was a good man !"* 

time has effected great changes, both in discipline and morals ; but the 
obligation is always the same. 

" The little circumspection, and the great facility with which Holy 
Orders! are now-a-days conferred, is the reason why the Clergy is 
crowded with those who aspire to be Priests ; not, that'God alone may 
be their portion ; but for the sake of placing themselves above the con- 
trol of the civil jurisdiction ; or in order to have wherewithal to live 
upon; or in the hope of being promoted to the dignities of the Church. 

" Hence it is, that we see Priests reduced to a shameful state of beg- 
gary, and going from door to door, seeking for sustenance. Others, 
again, we see, who by their enormous crimes, dishonor their character, 
and oblige the civil authorities to condemn them, some to the galleys, and 
others to perpetual imprisonment. Let us beg of God, said St. Gre- 
gory, the tears of Jeremiah ; and exclaim, with grief, ' How has the gold 
lost its lustre /' 

" In ancient times, public penances were not laid upon the Priests, 
whatever might have been their crimes, for fear of tarnishing in the 
least degree, the glory of the Priesthood. If they deserved some signal 
punishment, their resource was to confine them in the Monasteries, that 
they might there expiate their faults. But now we find them among the 
most abandoned villains, in the dungeons, and the galleys." Bellarm. 
3 Opusc. Lib. II. C. 5.— Ed. 

* This reminds me of something I observed when I was in France, 
which may very appropriately be introduced here, by way of illustra- 
tion. The Papists, in that country, are so habitually trained to connect 
the idea of holiness with that of levity, frivolity, and dissipation, that, 
when they wish to express, — a man is good or holy, — they say, " 11 est 
gaie"— u He is lively." — This levity, and frivolity of disposition, 
which is so peculiarly characteristic of the French, is to them the only 
criterion by which to judge of a man's piety. — If he is not " gay" as 
they call it, he cannot be pious, let him, in other respects, be what he 
may. Lost indeed, and Priest-ridden, must be a people whose senti- 
ments can be so warped as to substitute frivolity and dissipation for true 
piety! Weil did Addison, alluding to Popish France, exclaim j "that 
trifling nation !" — 

In France, then, to be gay and trifling, is to be pious. — 

Among the Spaniards, to be pious, is to be wealthy. — 




PRIEST TTmivTED TORTTXNE -TELLER. 



XXL] PRIESTS DISFIGURED WITH DISEASE. 213 

And another would say: — "Why, I know him ; — I have 
gone to him to Confess, and to have Masses read !" — The 
people would sometimes call them in, and treat them with 
wine and cigars ; and give them money. They would 
appear to feel veiV sorry for them, and to pity them ; but 
not to feel as if they were wicked and had done wrong. 

I was spending the day in a Spanish family, when an 
elderly Priest, about sixty* years of age, came in. He be- 
longed to St. Wanadou Convent. They called him 
Father Antonia. I was informed by this family, that he 
had been a Priest, beloved and worshiped by his people. 
The lady told me she had known him many years, when 
he stood high, and she had often gone to him for Masses 
and to Confess ; bat through dissipation, and other vices r 
he was laid aside. He was a dreadful object to look at 7 
both on account of the old age, and a disease he was la- 
bouring under which disfigured his face. From the time 
he entered the house, until he left, he never spoke on any 
subject without Crossing himself. In talking over former 
days, when he stood, as a Priest, respected and worshiped 
by his people, he mourned, and appeared to feel deeply his 
fallen situation. — He cried like a child. — But I do not 
know whether he was mourning for his sins, or for the 
loss of his character, and the confidence of the people, 
Often, when any of the Priests asked my Priest, if he 
knew Father Antonia, of St, Wanadou Convent, he would 
reply that he did ; and that he was a wicked man ; and 
he believed he had made a league with the devil, and 
could put a spell and a curse on any one. The Priests 
were all afraid to displease him, and were obliged to give 



In China, Popish piety is interwoven with heathenish idolatry, and 
the Virgin, their i( Regina caslorum" is rolled along upon a car, and 
worshiped, in order to reconcile Christianity with Pagan superstition. — 
Popery is every thing, or any thing; — truth and piety excepted. 

Middleton, in his " Letters from Rome," observes, that " the tolera- 
tion of Pagan prejudices, and mixing Christ with it by the policy of the 
Papists, however useful, at first, the Papists might pretend it was for re- 
conciling Heathens to Christianity, seems, now, to be the readiest way 
to drive Christians back again to Paganism." Middteton's Letters, p. 
823,— Ed. 



214 PRIEST TURNED FORTUNE-TELLER. [Chap* 

him any little thing he asked for in the Convent. His 
living was of the best that could be procured in St. Wa- 
nadou. Neither would he eat. but in a room by himself. 
Manuel also told me this Father Antonia had, at one time, 
an immense amount of money left to him. by different in- 
dividuals, who died, and left their property to have their 
souls prayed out of Purgatory; but, he became acquainted 
with a French lady, who had ruined him, and made him 
poor. He told me, too, that he believed, he had left the 
religion of the Holy Catholic Church, and had made a 
league with the devil. He spoke with all sincerity; and 
no doubt, believed in the truth of what he said. 

I knew another Priest, who was called Father Gosha, 
of St. Domingo Convent, who was once a Priest of high 
standing, and was almost worshiped by his people. 
Through the effects of dissipation, and other vices, which 
disfigured his features, he was laid aside, but was still sup- 
ported in the Convent. He used to tell fortunes, and to 
sell things to conjure with. He is known all over the 
city and the count ry. People, far and near, would send 
for him, to have their fortunes told ; and he made money 
by it. He was a very elderly man, and walked with a 
crutch. I have sent for him to tell my fortune, at a 
friend's house, as I dare not admit him to my own, be- 
cause he was so well known by all the Priests. He car- 
ried with him a box containing Crosses 3 images represent- 
ing our Saviour, and the devil, made of brass, and live 
lizards, and scorpions ; and small frogs, in vials ; all 
mixed up in the box together. These he would oblige 
you to kiss, and make you Cross yourself, before he 
would commence telling your fortune. He would still 
wear an old Priest's habit; but was not permitted to 
shave his bead, as formerly, I mention this to shew, 
what wickedness has brought these poor Priests to in 
their old age ; as well as the wickedness they do in their 
old age. They are not laid aside, until they become dis- 
figured with disease. 

* They are always permitted to return to duty in their 
Priestly office, so long as they can be cured of disease, 



XXI.] THE BOtWtJET. 215 

without the loss of any feature. And I have often 
heard Manuel say ; " such and such a Priest will receive 
his bouquet to-day ;" — or, that he had been to see such a 
Priest, or such a Priest, who was confined by disease ; 
and that, among other things, he said to him ; " Be 
patient; — to-morrow, or in a day or two, you will receive 
your bouquet? — Every Convent is said to have a room 
set apart to sufferers of this unhappy description ;— and 
its inmates are not allowed to put on their habits until 
they have received the bouquet, 

I never saw but one bouquet; — and that, Manuel 
was sorry for having showed me, because it filled me 
with such awful impressions of my own doom. A friend 
of his loaned him one that he had from the Superior of 
the Convent, on Confession, and for a remembrance to re 
strain his passions. It was a drawing representing the 
countenance of the Priest getting well, on a body, gouty, 
swelled, and disfigured. Cherubs guarded the gouty 
Priest's head. Before him stood the representation of a 
beautiful female dressed in the highest fashion, at whom 
he sorrowfully gazed. She seemed to be returning his 
repentant look, with bewitching' smiles. But, behind her, 
and above her, was the arm of the Prince of Darkness, 
reaching from darkness, and grasping the severed head of 
a lady by the .crown, and drawing its ghastly features 
away in a black cloud. There were, I should think, two 
quarto pages of poetry in Spanish, underneath the draw- 
ing. Manuel would not suffer me to read it. 

^When I saw it, the whole came home to my heart. I 
felt as if there was no hope for me. It was my own self 
that had no cherubs to flutter around my head; no 
angels to defend me from the Old Adversary ; but there 
the Wicked One seemed to have me by the crown, bearing 
me away to perdition, for living with a Priest. It dis- 
tressed me exceedingly ; and Manuel, in the last year of 
my residence with him, in order to break my spirit, often 
alluded to this grasp of the Great Enemy on the crown of 
my head ; and the allusion never failed to do it. I 



2.16 * priests' fear, of the bouquet. [Chap. 

would then retire, and fall before the ima^e of the Virgin 
Mary, and pouring out my grief to her, I felt some relief. 
My confidence in the Virgin was strengthening everyday 
in Cuba, from the relief 1 experienced in communing with 
her image. 

The Priests have a separate room in their Convents for 
the blind people, of whom there are a great many living 
on the island. I have frequently been in the room in St. 
Francisco Convent on a Sabbath morning, and saw them 
kneeling down, praying to our Saviour, and the Virgin 
Mary. In this room they go to Confess, and have Masses 
read, for which they are obliged to pay the Priests. 
They are let out every Friday, and then only to beg for 
the Priests. 

Two things I have heard said, which I will mention 
here. — Manuel and others have boasted in my hearing, 
that, whatever else had overtaken them, they never had a 
bouquet. 

Again, when the Priests are confined by sickness, the 
ladies often send them little refreshments and presents 
suitable for the sick ; and when it has happened to them, 
to be so favored in this particular room, I have heard Ma- 
nuel and others lau^h and say, "the sick Priest would 
not have received this kindness, if the lady had known 
what ailed him." 

The sight of the bouquet did me a great deal of good. 
I had no idea how wicked I was, like that which this 
drawing impressed upon me. It quickened and strength- 
ened my resolution to forsake the life I was leading, and 
to escape both from Cuba and the Priest, and the hand of 
the Evil One. Through the Lord's mercies this painful 
drawing, which was shown to me to impress me with the 
Priests' superior interest in the Divine favor, was made 
instrumental of leading me heartily to seek the forgiveness 
of God, and an interest in the Lord Jesus Christ ; in the 
possession of which, I am sometimes ready to rejoice, that 
I ever went to Cuba, and suffered many sorrows there ; 
for, through them I have been led, as by a way I knew 




THE BOUaUET. 



XXL] ROSAMONDS REFLECTIONS. 217 

not, to an acquaintance with my blessed Saviour. My 
anguish there was great; but it was for a little season; 
and it was blessed to the saving of my body and soul, I 
humbly trust, from the worm that never dies, and the fire 
that shall never be quenched. 
19 



218 EVENING RIDE WITH MANUEL. [Chap, 



CHAPTER XXH. 

"Faults in the life breed errors in the brain, 
And these reciprocally, those again, 
The mind and conduct mutually imprint, 
And stamp their image in each othei's mint: 
Each sire and dam, of an infernal race, 
Begetting and conceiving all that's base." 

COWPEK/ 

McmueVs evening ride with Rosamond.— Extraordinary occurrence at sup* 
• per-table. — Its effects on Manuel. — The king of Spain abrogates the cus- 
tom of criminals finding refuge in Churches and Convents. — The Priests 
ad the part of Inquisitors: gamble and fight.— Criminal Priests con-' 
fined in the " Expulsion Room :"— their grief for the loss of their fees.— ~ 
Sin is no sin if committed twisting to the Virgin Mary.— Two dollars 
for robbing or murdering. — Money and the Priests are the gods of the 
people. — Escapes from Havanna,- and arrives in New York. 

In Havanna, the rainy season is very gloomy ; and af- 
ter a succession of rains the nights are usually dark as welt 
as damp ; and most people keep in-doors, and shut up 
close, on account of the robbers. 

On an evening, dark, rainy, and foggy, Manuel came 
without any previous intimation of his wish, driving up 
to my door in a volante or chaise, after evening oration ; 
and wanted me to ride with him. I said he was crazy ; 
but he insisted ; and as he had been very unhappy fox 
several days, weeping with wretchedness, I threw on my 
mantle, and went with him. People may not believe the 
Priests are so wretched, but they are the most unhappy 
beings in the world. I had more than once asked Manuel 
in his tears, why he wept — He replied, that it was at see- 
ing me so unhappy. This was after I had been in the 
Convent, during last year, on the island. 

The volante was so closed that I do not know where 
we went ; but we made several turns, and did not go out- 
side of the gates. It was by the side of the city walls 
where we got out ; and it rained while we rode. We en- 
tered an ancient built and furnished house ; and Manuel 
introduced me to his commarthra, a lady upwards of forty. 



XXII.] MANUEL ATTEMPTS TO POISON HER. 219 

Commarthra is an affectionate term, answering to good 
mother. No other person appeared about the house, ex- 
cept slaves. Wherever I went, Manuel's friends used to 
make a great deal of me, as all do of a foreigner ; but 
this woman was cold and unfriendly ; the very reverse of 
what Spaniards usually are to a guest 

After sitting a short time, in which Manuel had very 
little to say, (for generally when the Priests enter a house 3 
their tongues can hardly go fast enough for the gay spi- 
rits,) we were invited to go and partake of refreshments. 
We passed through a hall into the back piazza, where a 
table was spread with cold ham, lettuce, almonds, bread, 
and claret- wine. There were two botdes of wine ; and 
Manuel filled three tumblers from the same bottle. 

We had gone through the usual ceremony of saying 
" Bon sante" — " your good health," and touching glasses;* 
and I brought mine towards me to drink ; when, suddenly 
Manuel put forth his hand and seized my tumbler ; ex- 
claiming with horror, u Ka ! Rosetta P — which signifies, 
"Oh! Rosamond!" — And he laid down the tumbler he 
had taken from me, and fell back, and fainted. 

The lady of the house did not appear surprised. I be- 
lieve, before he got the tumbler out of my hands, the whole 
thing came to my mind at once. We sprang up. — The 
lady threw cold water in Manuel's face, and rubbed his 
temples. When he came to himself, he said he was very 
unwell.— We all left the table without having tasted a 
mouthful of any thing, as it is the custom to drink before 
eating-— and Manuel and I soon after went home. 

I never knew the name of the lady ; nor did I hear a 
word of explanation between Manuel and her ; nor did I 
ever ask any explanation of the matter of Manuel, or 
even allude to it. I felt so thankful for my escape, that 
I would not trouble him about it. I knew that I owed my 
life to him ; that he was set to do this deed by the Supe- 
rior of the Convent, and the other Priests ; and I thought 
I was safer never to let him know that I understood how 

\ * Tfce custom preyails in France. — Ed. 



220 MANUEL FAINTS. [Chap. 

near I was to death. I feared that if he found out I knew 
it, he would put me to death at once. 

He drove in silence home. — It rained very hard. — 1 was 
so overcome with fear that 1 would not speak. — We passed 
a dreadful night. — He walked in anguish to and fro; — 
said he was sick; — he wished the Bishop would send him 
to Spain. He sighed and exclaimed "Mon Dieu!" in- 
cessantly, and had a high fever and headache all night. — 
I bathed his head, and comforted him as well as I could, 
He left me in the morning more affectionately than he had 
done for some time previous. About eleven o'clock of 
that day he sent to me by his Alcowater, two silver forks, 
and two silver table-spoons, of uncommonly thick plate. 

After evening oration, when he came in. I admired the 
thick plate of his rich present ; and though sorrowful, he 
was more cheerful than he had been for several days. 

No doubt his plan was to poison me, in order to rid 
himself and the ;^her Priests of the presence of one whom 
they were afraid to dismiss, or to suffer to escape ; and 
whose presence had of late, been to them a source of 
much mortification. They had arranged every thing, 
but Manuel's strength failed in the execution of the plan. 
The Lord did not give him strength to complete his design. 
Seeing how freely I received the cup, he had himself 
poured out for me, his conscience smote him ; his purpose 
failed ; and he fainted in the conflict of his strong pas- 
sions. The Lord took away his strength, and defeated 
his treacherous design. 

While I resided on the island, many communications 
passed between Rome and Havanna, respecting a change 
of the Priests' residence, proposing to remove those on 
the island, and to replace them with others from Spain, 
There was much uneasiness among the Priests about it. 
They are like soldiers, and must go where they are com- 
manded by the Pope and the Bishop. I used to hear 
them say, they did not care abqut being removed to the 
Valley of the Mississippi ; but they were unwilling to be 
transported to any other of the West India islands. 

I asked Manuel what this was for, and why they wished 




attempt at pois omN~a. 



XXII.] THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 221 

to send away the Priests that were there, and to send 
others in their place. — " O," said he, " there are so many 
Priests and Friars in Spain, they do not know what to dc 
with them. There are in some Convents there, two 01 
three hundred of them." Shortly after, other news would 
come that used to revive the spirits of the Priests ; and 
they would all rejoice together in the hope of continuing 
on the island. So they were subject to hopes and fears, 
depending on the news from Rome. But, finally, they 
warded off the blow that was aimed at their places ; and 
the Priests of Old Spain were left to their own fate in 
Spain, and the Priests of Cuba to the enjoyment of their 
pleasures. 

Before the new Constitution made by the king of Spain, 
any criminal guilty of murder, or of any other breach of 
the laws, if he could escape to any of the Convents, and 
touch or place his finger on any part of the Holy Con- 
vents, by that means he was made free from the penalty of 
the law ; so that no man could take or hurt him, while he 
remained under the protection of the walls of the Con- 
vent and of the Priests.* So I was told by Manuel. 

I asked Manuel if there were not more murders com- 
mitted before the Constitution, than now. He said, no ; 
that there was more robbery and more murder committed 
since the Constitution than before ; for now, when the rob- 
bers attack a man, he would not give up his money so de- 
liberately and freely as was usual previous to the laws 
under the Constitution. 

And further, I have heard Manuel and others say, that 
before the Constitution, the Priests could and would go to 
any gentleman's house, at any hour of the night, and enter 
it, and take any one, the husband from his wife, or the 
wife from her husband, or the son, or the daughter, from 
their parents, and confine them in the Convent for any 
thing they might have said or done against the Priests or 
the Holy Church. And I have heard it said that if the 
Priests had other motives, they would lay false charges 

♦ See note on Chap. XXI. p. 210. 



222 PRIESTS, NUNS AND PEOPLE GETTING WORSE. [Chap. 

against any one they wished to capture, and so would 
make a prey of the innocent, and drag the protector of 
the family from the guardianship of his lambs, that the 
wolves might have easy entrance. 

Manuel has told me that the Priests all liked the state 
of things before the Constitution better than they do now ; 
because they received more money, and fared more sump- 
tuously, and were more respected, and the people were 
more humble and submissive. For then a parent would 
not dare permit his son to come to America, to travel in 
any part of the United States, as the Priests would not 
consent ; because they said it made the young men diso- 
bedient and wicked ; and they were never the same after 
returning, in respect to the forms of the Holy Church, 
and obedience to the Priests. 

1 have heard Manuel and other Priests say, that Cuba 
was getting more and more wicked every year, with the 
Priests, and the Convents, and the people. I can inform 
you what led the Priests to make this remark on them- 
selves, and on their Convents. That night several Priests 
were at my house to take supper. A Priest by the name 
of Father Fortinner, of St. Domingo Convent, a friend of 
theirs, had been, the night previous, gambling in his Con- 
vent with some other Priests, who had been unfortunate, 
and had lost a great deal of money, and thought they lost 
it wrongfully, and had been cheated by another of the 
Priests. This caused a dispute, so that words came to 
blows, and Father Fortinner took a dftor-bar, (as I was 
informed by Manuel,) and struck his antagonist, and broke 
his arm. For this he was taken by the orders of the Su- 
perior of the Convent, and put into a room of the Con- 
vent, such as all Convents have, called the Expulsion- 
room, and was confined. The criminal Priest is con- 
fined here, during the pleasure of his Superior, or of the 
Bishop ; and is suspended during the time from all his 
duties. 

Manuel was put into this room twice, during the five 
years I lived with him ; but he was confined only a few 
days each time. I recollect he was in five days at one 



XXIL] THE EXPULSION-ROOM. 223 

time. He would not tell me what he had done ; but I 
have heard them say, that they do not go in for trifles. 
I remember hearing him say, after he came out at that 
time, that he had lost a good deal of money a short time 
previous in this way ; he had been engaged by some new 
subjects, who had chosen him for their Father Confessor, 
and also had been engaged to christen several houses ; 
and he was afraid some other Priest had taken the bar- 
gain out of his hands, or had robbed him of the job. This 
appeared to bear on his mind more than the crime he had 
committed, for which he had been confined in the Ex- 
puis io?i- room, whatever that crime was ; for lie never 
would tell me what it was. But, as I have said, they do 
not enter there for a light offence ; nor do their people 
know when they are in that room ; for whenever their 
people, or any one of them, sends to the Convent for their 
Father Confessor, on any occasion, when he happens to 
be confined in the Expulsio7i-room, orders are given by 
the Superior, to say that the Priest is indisposed ; and that 
probably he will be out in a few days. I have been in- 
formed by Manuel that the Superior usually sends another 
Priest, as a substitute for the one confined in the Expul- 
sion-room, to punish him still more. The loss of his fees 
adds much to his vexation for the loss of his liberty. 

All the people are led to believe by the Priests, that 
whatever they do in the way of crime, they commit no 
sin if they have not the heart and mind upon the crime, 
but upon the Virgin Mary, and go away immediately and 
Confess it to some Priest, and obtain pardon. But the 
Priest cannot pardon without money. 

You may get any one marked in the face with an ugly 
scar, or robbed, or murdered, for two dollars.* This may 
appear unnatural and incredible to many ; but not to those 

* Captain J. E. Alexander, describing the manners and customs of 
the Papists in the West India islands, tells us that * Murders are com- 
mon almost every day. Some time ago no fewer than seven white peo- 
ple were murdered in different parts of the city of Havanna. People 
are here robbed in open day. Transatlantic Sketches, Vol. I. p. 
353.- Ed. 



224 MONEY AND THE PRIESTS THEIR GO£S. [Chap. 

who hare lived on the island, and know something about 
the people. Almost every one you meet is marked with 
some scar or gash in bis face. Even females are often 
made in this way to feel the envy of a rival beauty, and 
even while sitting at the window, they sometimes receive 
a blow from the passing assassin. 

If any one, citizen or stranger, has business to transact 
on the island, or wishes to make any speculation, or to 
smuggle goods to any amount past the customhouse, or 
leave the island without a regular passport, and many 
other things of the same dishonest principle, he can bribe, 
with a small sum of money, either the commissaries, the 
alcades, or judges, or the customhouse officers : for mo- 
ney and the Priests are their gods, if I have any right view 
and knowledge of them, after living among them five 
years, and in the heart of their vile and wicked ways. 



XXIII] MANNER OF LAYING OUT THE DEAD. 225 



CHAPTER XXIll. 

I( And lo ! another angel stood in heaven, 
Crying aloud with mighty voice, ' Fallen, fallen, 
Is Babylon the Great, to rise no more. 
Rejoice, ye prophets ! over her rejoice, 
Apostles ! holy men, all saints, rejoice ! 
And glory give to God, and to the Lamb. 
And all the armies of disburdened earth. 
As voice of many waters, and as voice 
Of thunderings, and voice of multitudes. 
Answered, Amen. — And every hill and rock 
And sea and every beast, answered, Amen. 
Europe answered, and the farthest, bound 
Of woody Chili, Asia's fertile coasts, 
And Afric's burning wastes, answered, Amen. 
And Heaven, rejoicing, answered back, Amen." 

POLLOK, 

Manner of laying out the dead. — The American and Popish grave-yards, 
— Death of Mary Stewart — The Priests get her money. — Rosamond es- 
capes from Cuba, and arrives in New York. 

I will describe as near as I can. the mode of laying 
out the dead. First, after a person dies, he is reniovect 
out of the room where his death happened, and all the 
furniture is also removed. The Priest then comes and 
blesses it ; after this, he returns to his Convent and brings 
his Holy death articles, accompanied wi^h attendants, to 
wait upon him. A Holy Brussels carpet is then spread 
upon the floor, and the room is hung 1 round with silk vel- 
vet, or black damask lining. Then four sculls are placed 
in different parts of the room, with the Cross on the tops 
of each one of them, and with candles burning under 
them. The death-table, which is also brought from the 
Convent, is placed in the centre of the room. This is 
dressed in deep mourning for a man, but for a lady it is 
dressed in white. Pour large death-candles are burning 
at each corner of the table, with the Cross lying by the 
side of each candle. The corpse is dressed in a new suit 
of clothes, and laid out on the table. The room is then 
sprinkled with Holy Water. An image of the Virgin 
Mary, as large as life, is placed at the head of the corpse. 



226 THE DEATH-ROOM. [Chap. 

She is generally placed in such an attitude as to appear 
to be weeping over it ; and a number of candles are 
lighted up round about her, with a large silver Cross 
with an image of our Saviour on it. When a female is 
laid out, her death-table is dressed in white, and ornamented 
with green or orange leaves and flowers. The corpse is 
dressed in black silk or satin ; that of a young maid or 
babe, has the head set off with flowers, and the face 
painted. 

The people go more for the sake of seeing how the 
room is ornamented, and the corpses laid out, than they 
do to see the corpse, which looks more like the living 
than the dead ; so much would they be laid out in dis- 
guise by their friends and the Priests. The Priests dis- 
guise and dress the death-rooms, and the relations and 
friends dress the corpses. 

In this death-room there will be a man, in the capacity 
of a clerk, to receive the gifts or fees which the people al- 
ways bring on these occasions for the prayers they say 
over the corpses ; this fee is two dollars and a half. The 
ceremony which the Priest performs, is to Cross himself, 
and say a few words in Latin. After he has performed 
the ceremony, he will go up to the clerk and get his fee. 
If the deceased be a rich person, you will sec the Priests 
from ail the Convents in the death-room. In this case, 
you will see a table set out with different kinds of wine, 
confectionaries, and cigars. It is not customary for the 
Priests to leave the room without taking some wine and 
cigars as a Blessing. You will see too, in this room or in 
the adjoining one, ladies and gentlemen talking and 
laughing, smoking and drinking wine, playing cards, and 
playing on the guitars, as they think it is a sin to mourn, 
until the soul of the deceased is prayed out of Purgatory ; 
and, they believe, that this is done by the prayers of the 
Priests. 

When the corpse is removed to be interred, one of the 
Priests remains to have the Holy Ornaments conveyed 
back to the Convent, or to some other death-room, which, 
perhaps, may be waiting to be dressed. The Priests aU 



XXIII.] ROSAMOND BAPTIZED BY SATAN. 227 

ways take the fee from the poor before they leave the 
house. The price varies from an ounce to four or six 
ounces, according to the circumstances of the relatives of 
the deceased. 

When I reflect and bring up to my mind how merciful 
the Lord has been to me in sparing my life, and bringing 
me out from among those wicked people, and placing me 
here where 1 can see how wicked I was, I feel overcome 
with gratitude ; and I hope and trust, that this wicked 
heart of mine has been melted down to that " repentance 
which needs not to be repented of? 1 know there is no 
one to blame but myself, for all the misery I have suffered. 
I know that from the time I left the path of virtue, my life 
was gloomy, wicked, and full of thorns ; that my heart 
was never easy, and my mind was always like the wav- 
ing ocean tossed to and fro. O, that I could then have 
said, and believed, (hat u the way of the transgressor is 
hard!" and " the wages of sin is death!" — But no, — 
that blessed Bible was a sealed book to me. — As soon as 
I was baptized by Satan, I can truly say, that I always 
found him to be a hard master. Many are the scenes of 
guilt, misery, and unmixed sorrow, that I have sketched 
in my wandering and wicked pilgrimage, to be laid be- 
fore this dark and gloomy world; and yet I do not sup- 
pose that I have succeeded in expressing that deep feel- 
ing which I have suffered. O, reader! if the tear starts, 
if your heart aches within you as you think on my gloomy 
narrative, pause ! — that those tears may swell into a 
stream; — that your heart may almost burst, to think how 
common were my sufferings, and that every day brings 
forth the same story, and say : 

u Who is that, forlorn and wasting, 

Wrapped in study and despair I 
All the pangs of death she's tasting, 

Sad world, indeed, O, who can bear ! 

M Once by virtue's fireside dwelling, 
She was blessed with parents' love, 

Now, her heart with anguish swelling, 
Finds no rest, like Noah's dove.' , 



228 THE AMERICAN GRAVE-YARD. [Chap/- 

I will now give a description, as near as I can, of the 
situation of the American grave-yard, of the manner in 
which the dead are buried there, and how much they are 
exposed in their graves. 

The American grave-yard is three miles outside of 
the walls of the city, (Havanna.) It lays out by the sea- 
side. This is the place they appropriate for burying the 
poor Protestants, as they call us. It is about three acres, 
partly fenced, and partly walled in. The wall in many 
parts is broken down, and the fence is old and broken. 
Turkey buzzards, cattle, mules, and wild animals enter it 
whenever they choose. You may go in there at anytime 
you will, and you will see on the graves, part of the dead 
bodies, an arm, or a leg, or the face of the dead exposed 
naked, and the buzzards devouring the bodies. If the 
body would be laid out in a shroud, some of the natives 
would come and strip it naked, and leave the body ex- 
posed on the earth. The friends, however, or the relations 
of the deceased, generally cut up the shroud into small 
pieces, so that it may be of no use to the natives, that they 
may let it alone. You will find no tomb-stones on the 
graves. Formerly, when any friend would put a tomb- 
stone on the grave of their friend, it would be taken im- 
mediately away by some of the natives of the island. I 
have myself, with some friend, and without Manuel's 
knowing it, gone out there to see this impious scene. I 
have counted ten, and sometimes twenty bodies exposed 
out of the ground for the wild animals to devour. I some- 
times asked Manuel, if he did not think it cruel and 
wicked to have the dead so much exposed to be devoured 
by the wild animals. He used to reply, " no, — it mattered 
not where the poor wicked Protestants were laid," — and 
he compared us to the dumb beasts, and said, if I died 
without being christened, and would not become a Catho- 
lic, that when I died, my body would also be exposed in 
the same way ; that he could not bury me ; neither could 
he have my soul prayed out of Purgatory. 

During the last year I was living on the island, there 
was an American female, who belonged here in New 



XXIIL] DEATH OF MARY STEWART. 229 

York, and who had a mother and two sisters living here, 
who, she said, were Christians. At that time, she was 
living with a Spanish gentleman ; and as she was 
young, and handsome, she was frequently visited by the 
, Priests.. She was sick with the black-vomit, and lived 
only five days. I saw her a number of times during the 
time that she was sick, Her constant cry was about her 
poor mother, and to warn all*>f her female friends, that 
would call and see her, and who were living in the same 
capacity with herself, to leave that life, and the island, and 
return to their dear parents, and prepare to die. I must 
die, she said, unprepared. It was the wish of her friend, 
and some of her favorite friends of the Priests, for her to 
be christened. They told her that she would be lost ) and 
that they could not bury her, or have her buried in the 
u Compassant ,"— -(the Catholic grave-yard ;) that she 
would be obliged to be laid in the American grave-yard, 
for the wild beasts to devour. This awful dread and ter- 
ror of having her body exposed to the wild animals, (as 
she had been out to the American grave -yard,) made her 
consent to be christened in the form of the Holy Catholic 
Church, as they call it. As soon as some of her Ameri- 
can female friends heard this, they objected to it, and kept 
the Priests out of the house until the breath was out of 
her body. The Priests that belong to St. Domingo Con- 
vent, felt very much vexed about it, and threatened to 
have these American female friends put into Moro Castle, 
for depriving them of saving that poor soul from going to 
hell There were several Priests who met there from 
different Convents ; and they held a consultation upon 
what should be done. They concluded, in the end, that 
she should be buried in the Holy Ground, because they 
had heard her say, that she was willing to be christened ; 
and that if she died without the Priests, it was because her 
wicked Protestant friends would not let them come. 

She was about eighteen years old, and her name was 
Mary Stewart. She had some property* and, as soon as the 
breath was out of her body, they began to seize upon her 
things, and to cnrry them away, 
20 



230 ESCAPES FROM HAVANA. 

The Catholic grave-yard is very different from the Ame- 
rican ; for the graves are all covered with beautiful flow- 
ers, and it is fenced in with a high stone wail, and the 
graves all have Crosses at the head of them. 

It was daring the cholera, in the year 1S33, that I made 
my escape from Manuel, and from the island, when my 

Priest had left the city with the Marquis M J s 

family, the same lady who had hired those robbers to kill 
me. A great many families left the city during the 
cholera, all taking their Priests with them, believing their 
Priests could save them. Before he went into the 
country, he supplied my wants, and gave me money to 
make me comfortable. He left an old Aleowater in the 
house, to remain during his absence. I was assisted to 
get away by one, whom it might injure to mention his 
name, who felt very much for my forlorn and lost condi- 
tion ; and through the mercies of the Lord, and the love 
he had for ray poor immortal soul, I am brought to this 
Christian country, and am placed anions Christian 
friends : and I hope and trust, that I am not only reclaim- 
ed in this world, but am in the arms of my dear 'Saviour, 



APPENDIX, 

FURTHER ILLUSTRATING ROMANISM. 



CHAPTER I 



ROMISH PRIESTS. 

This Narrative treats so largely on the conduct of the Ro- 
man Catholic Priests, that the reader is entitled to every degree 
of information concerning their rank and office, which it is 
possible in a brief space to bestow. 

The Council of Trent, in its twenty-third session, decrees, 
that "sacrifice and Priesthood are so joined by the ordinance 
.of God, that both are found together in every dispensation ;"- — 
u that the Catholic church, having received by divine institu- 
tion, the holy and visible sacrifice of the Eucharist, (the Mass,) 
she has a new, and visible, and external Priesthood, in the 
place of the old~ (Mosaic;) — that this Priesthood was insti- 
tuted by the Lord our Saviour, and that to his Apostles and 
their successors in the Priesthood, the power was given to con- 
secrate, offer, and minister his body and blood; and also to 
remit and retain sins. 17 

This is then the peculiar office of a Roman Priest ; to wit : 
To offer Mass, and also to remit and retain sins. And the 
Roman Catholics are taught in the catechism, that the office 
of the Priest transcends all others in dignity, inasmuch as their 
power of consecrating the body of the Lord, and remitting 
sins, is incomprehensible, and unequalled by any power on the 
earth. 

The Priesthood is divided into seven Orders, beginning with 
the Clerical tonsure, or the shaving of the young student's 
head, and ascending, gradually, to the rank of Priest. They 
are oJJcd Porter Reader., Exorcist, Acolyte, Sub-deacon, Dea- 



232 APPENDIX. 

con, and Priest. The first four of the seven are called Wmor 
Orders ; the three latter are called Holy Orders. The Porter 
keeps the church door. The Reader reads to the people. The 
Exorcist receives power over evil spirits, to cast them out. 
The Acolyte serves the Priests at the altar, by attending the 
candles in the offering of the Mass. The Sub-deacon prepares 
the altar-linen, the sacred vessels, the bread and wine, the water 
to wash the Priest's hands at Mass, and to read the epistle, and 
assist as a witness, and sees that nothing occurs to disturb the 
celebration of the Mass. The Deacon waits on the Bishop as- 
the Sub-deacon serves the Priest,, and, in an emergency, he may 
expound the Gospel to the people, but not from an elevated 
place. The Priest has power to offer sacrifice to God, and to 
administer the Sacraments of the Romish church. 

Ordination, they say, confers grace, and constitutes one of 
their seven church Sacraments : it impresses a character on the 
Priest, that never can be destroyed or taken away. Death 
alone severs a Priest from the obligation of his vows ; even 
the grave receives him in his habits, though he may have been 
removed from public office on account of scandalous vices. 
This we have seen illustrated in the Narrative most amply. 
Neither open concubinage, nor secret murder, was sufficient to 
take away the office of the Priests of Cuba. They were never 
laid by, as unfit for duty, while their base indulgences failed to 
disfigure their countenances, and odiously to deprive them of 
some one of the features of the face. When the curse of their 
indulgences breaks uncontrollably out upon their eyes, nose, or 
mouth, then, in shame, they are laid by, and no longer suffered 
to consecrate and offer the Romish Mass. In conformity with 
this imperishable character of the Priest, the great Council of 
Trent pronounced, " Whoever shall affirm that he who was 
once a Priest may become a layman again : let him be ac- 
cursed." Sess. XXIII. 

The Bishops are not an Order by themselves, but they are of 
the Order of Priests, set apart to the high office of overseers 
and governors of the church, to whom belongs the administra- 
tion of the rite of ordination : and any man who says " that Or- 
ders conferred by them, without the consent or calling of tho 
people, or the secular power^ are invalid, let him be accursed." 
That is, they make Priests whom they will,, and whom they 
will they reject, without giving any account to the people, or 
taking care to consult those over whom the Priest is placed ; 



APPENDIX. 233 

although the Bishop full well knows how to remove an ob- 
noxious Priest from one part of the Roman domains to another; 
and to replace a notorious offender, by an utter stranger ; and 
to change the residence of one who is endangering the Roman 
credit to a new field, which he enters with all the sanctity of a 
man under a solemn vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty, 
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Such were Father 

Hosa, and Father Panterilla, and Father R , and others, 

who took refuge from Havanna in these United States, or were 
ordered hither by the Bishop of Cuba. 

The Pope himself, and the Cardinals,. and all the- multitude 
of the lower Hierarchy, are of the Order of Priests, holding the 
rank of Bishops, <fcc. &c; The Pope is Bishop of Rome : and 
his Cardinals are nominally Priests and Deacons of Rome, 
and its vicinity. 

The Council of Trent made no definition of the powers of 
the Bishops, probably from a difficulty of discerning, readily 
between those of the Bishop of Rome, and of the other Bishops. 
But, according to the Doctors of Rome, the Bishops are all in 
the rank of the Apostles, over whom they place the Bishop of 
Rome instead of Peter. The Scriptures do not furnish an in- 
stance of Peter's exercising authority, or even seeking to do it, 
over the rest of the Apostles ; so far from it, they tell of Paul's 
withstanding him publicly to his face, and putting him under 
open rebuke, which he bore with meekness, for he was to 
blame. Yet history is full of the feats cf authority of the 
Bishop of Rome, who is the head of the Roman Priesthood, 
the fountain of all grace, and honor, and power, to the Romish 
Priests, wherever they are found on the face of the whole earth, 
and the object of their homage, whom they swear to obey, when 
absent, and in whose presence they fall down and worship. 

This is not a sketch of ancient history, or of poetic fancy ; 
but it is the testimony of modern travelers, taken here from the 
classical Tour of Eustace, (Vol. II. 168,) himself a Roman 
Catholic, zealous for that faith. Describing the manner in 
which the head of the Roman Priesthood is received, when he 
shows himself to the multitude, he says : "The Pontiff appears, 
elevated on his chair of state under the middle arch (of St. Pe- 
ter's.) Instantly the whole multitude below fall on their knees. 
The cannons of St. Angdo, (a neighboring fort) give a general 
discharge; while rising slowly from his throne, he lifts his hands 
to heaven, stretches forth his arm, and thrice gives his bene 
20* 



234 APPENDIX. 

diction, to the crowd, to the city, and to all mankind. A solemn 
pause follows; another discharge from the fort is heard: the 
crowd rises, and the pomp gradually disappears." Cram]?* 
Text Book, p. 314. How much it would serve the Pope, if he 
could thunder ! Poor man, that he should be beholden to the 
castle of Angelo for a voice to announce his presence, and the 
conclusion of his blessing ! For the blessing itself no man 
hears. The Rev. Dr. M'Auley of this city gives me leave to 
say he stood within ten feet of the Pope this very year, when 
he came forth to bless some fifty thousand people, and neither 
could the sound of his voice be heard, nor his lips be discov- 
ered to move. 

Mr. Eustace adds, that, in the ceremony called the adoration 
of the Pope, which takes place almost immediately after his 
election, '-he is placed in a chair on the altar of the Cistine 
chapel, and there receives the homage of the Cardinals. This 
ceremony is again repeated on the high altar of St. Peter's." — 
Their Roman altars are nothing to me. A Pope or a slave 
may alike sit or stand on them ; but to the Romans themselves, 
it is the most holy place, where the Lord is daily offered up ; 
and for a Priest to approach it, he must kneel down : and for a 
commoner to pass by it, he must kneel down ; because it is the 
place of the Lord of Hosts ; the holy elements are treasured 
there. They worship and adore the consecrated elements, in 
that place; and in that place they adore the Pope, who ik as (or 
instead of ) God, sitteth in the temple of God, shoicing himself 
that he is God. 11 2 Thess. II. 

Candidates for the Priesthood are admitted to the Minor Or- 
ders, at the age of fourteen. Sub-deacons must be twenty-two : 
Deacons twenty-three; and Priests twenty-five.* They are 
educated at public seminaries ; the poor gratuitously, the rich 
at charges. They are required to learn grammar, singing, and 
other ordinary branches of education : to become versed in 
Scripture, Ecclesiastical reading, the homilies of the Saints, and 
the ceremonies of the Sacraments. They must attend Mass 
every day, Confess and receive the sacrament once a month, 
under direction of their Confessor. They receive the first ton- 
sure, immediately on their admission to wear the clerical habit ; 
and, from that time, are gradually initiated into the services of 
the church. 

* By a dispensation they can be ordained at any a§e. — Ed. 



APPENDIX. 235 

One of the distinguishing and indelible marks of the Romish 
Priesthood is the vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty. How 
it is kept by them in Cuba, the reader very well knows. Their 
licentiousness is not usually exceeded by their wealth, even 
when they pursue the steps taken by Father Francisco, and by 
Father Panterilla, to increase riches. The article of obedience 
has reference to the duty they owe to their Superiors ; and that, 
they are forced to perform to the letter. 

It is not in Cuba alone where the corrupt Priests of the Ro- 
mish doctrine of celibacy are found. In every part of the 
world, where it is forbidden to marry, the same licentiousness 
is said to prevail ; and, in the very nature of frail man, it must 
prevail. Jos Blanco White, whose place as royal chaplain to 
the king of Spain, gave him opportunity to know, thus speaks 
of his own observations. 

" I cannot think of the wanderings of the friends of my 
youth, without heart-rending pain. One, now no more, whose 
talents raised him to one of the highest dignities of the church 
of Spain, was, for many years, a model of Christian purity. 
When, by the powerful influence of his mind, and the warmth of 
his devotion, this man had drawn many into the clerical and reli- 
gious life, (my youngest sister among the latter,) he sunk at once 
into the grossest and most daring profligacy. I heard him boast 
that the night before the solemn procession of Corpus Christi, 
where he appeared nearly at the head of his Chapter, one of 
two children had been born, which his two concubines had 
brought to light within a few days of each other. Such, more 
or less, has been the fate of my early friends, whose minds and 
hearts were much above the common standard of the Spanish 
Clergy. What, then, need I say of the vulgar crowd of 
Priests,- who, coming, as the Spanish phrase has it, from 
coarse swaddling clothes, and raised by Ordination to a rank 
of life, for which they have not been prepared, mingle vice 
and superstition, grossness of feeling, and pride of office, in 
their character ? I have known the best among them, I have 
heard their Confessions; I have heard the Confessions of per- 
sons of both sexes, who fell under the influence of their sug- 
gestions and example; and I do declare, that nothing can fcl 
more dangerous to youthful virtue, than their company. 

" I have seen the mo^'t promising men of my University, 
(Salamanca,) obtain country Vicarages with characters unim- 
peached, and hearts overflowing with hopes of usefulness. A 



236 



APPENDIX. 



virtuous wife would have confirmed and strengthened their 
purposes : but they were required to live a life of angels in ce- 
libacy. They were, however, men, and their duties connected 
them with beings of no higher description. Young women 
knelt before them in all the intimacy and frankness of Confes- 
sion. A solitary home made them go abroad in search of 
social converse. Love seized them, at length, like madness. 
Two, I knew, who died insane : hundreds might be found, 
who avoid that fate by a life of settled systematic vice. 7 ' Prac- 
tical and Internal Evidence against Catholicism, 
Page 132. 

Such fruits prove the tree to be corrupt, which produces 
them. They are common in Roman catholic countries. The 
vulgar crowd of Spanish Priests, named by Mr. While, are in- 
troduced to us one by one in the course of this Narrative; 
their grossness of feeling, their superstition, their vices, their 
pride of office, are all unveiled. The circle of Priests in 
which Rosamond moved, contained characters of various 
grades ; but they were all licentious, cruel, and wanting na- 
tural affection, as their vows, together with the ordinary duties 
of their office, most certainly make them. They may start in 
life pure and innocent ; and may cherish ardent hopes of serv- 
ing the Lord in the ministry. I am willing to think they do ; 
but it is impossible to continue in this state through a long life 
of temptation. The Priest may praise celibacy, and boast of 
chastity, and sprinkle Holy Water to frighten away the evil 
spirits, and even Cross himself every time an assault is made 
on his vows; he may resist the warm kiss of the devout peni- 
tent, impressed on his hands, when she has frank'.y told him, 
by herself alone, all that is, or has been, in her heart, and re- 
ceives absolution and a blessing in return ; but in the effort to 
maintain his innocence, it is easy to believe that out of a hun- 
dred Priests, ninety-eight would sooner or later sink under the 
power of temptation, and the other two would go mad. 

That word of Manuel's, when he took his habit between his 
thumb and finger, and extending it, said; "Rosetta, this habit 
does not change our feelings ; we have feelings like other 
men;" is a true word, whether spoken in New York or Ha- 
vanna. The vow of the Priest is the same ; and the tempta- 
tions of the Priest are the same, here, as elsewhere; but the 
restraints upon the licentiousness of Priests are tenfold greater 
here, than in a Rorr*an catholic country. The eye of a jealous 



APPENDIX. 237 

people is upon them, and they are defended from the allure- 
ments of their own official duties, by a proper dread of that 
public reproach, which, in this country, assuredly falls on the 
wanton lip and leering eye of a professed teacher of morals 
and of religion. 



238 



APPENDIX. 



CHAPTER II. 



Reader. — " Where is that Church, against which Christ 
tells us Satan shall not prevail 7 

J. B. White. — " Let me answer you by a question, though I 
fear it will appear to you rather out of the way. — Where is the 
plough we pray God to speed % 

Reader. — " Oh, Sir ! we do not mean any particular plough. 
We only pray God, to prosper and bless the labors of the hus- 
bandman. 

White. — " Very well. — Now, suppose that God had, in the 
Scriptures, promised that evil should never prevail against the 
f lough ; what would you understand by the words % 

Reader. — " I believe they would mean that all the crops 
should never fail at once, so that it would be impossible ever to 
grow any more grain. 

White. — " And what would you think, if a society of far- 
mers, with a rich man at their head, had established them- 
selves at London, and wished to have a monopoly of all the 
corn on earth, saying to the government ; ' You must go to 
war to defend our rights ; for God has said : Evil shall not 
prevail against the plough. And who can be the plough, but 
the head and society of farmers of the county of Middlesex, 
wherein stands the great city of London, which is the first city 
of the world V 

Reader. — " I should certainly think they were a set either 
of madmen or rogues, who wished for their own benefit to levy 
a tax upon all farmers, wherever they were. 

White. — "I will leave you to apply what we have said, to 
the use which the Pope and his Cardinals have made of 
Christ's promise to the Church, that Satan should not prevail 
against his Church. — Church, here, must mean Christianity in 
general ; not Christianity confined to the walls of any town. 
The meaning, therefore, of the promise must be, that Satan 
shall never succeed in abolishing the faith in God through 
Christ: — not that the Pope and Rome must always be right; 
and much less, that the Pope is the spiritual governor of the 
world. 

" As far as the Roman Church regulates her faith by the. 
Gospel, we believe her to be a true portion of the Univer- 



APPENDIX. 239 

gal Church of Christ. But in regard to her inventions, where- 
by she makes void the power and spirit of the Gospel, we de- 
clare her corrupt and heretical ; and in proportion to the 
additions, which out of her own fancy she has made to the 
Gospel, she has separated herself from that multitude of per- 
sons of every age and country, who, being called by the grace 
of God, to believe in his Son Jesus Christ, have conformed, 
and do now conform their lives to the obedience of the Gos- 
pel, and ground their hopes of salvation on the promises made 
therein. 

*' Many suppose the Roman church has reformed ; has aban- 
doned its ancient errors, its blind superstitions, its idolatries, its 
political meddling, its secret works of darkness, its intolerance. 
But Rome no more admits the doctrine of any salvation out of 
the pale of her church, now, than in the thirteenth century, 
She distrusts, and where she can, she disfranchises aliens to 
her faith, now, as much as in the days of Leo the Tenth. Her 
celebration of the Mass is the same; her Convents and Monas- 
teries are the same; her Monks and Nuns are the same; her 
worship of images, and pictures, and Crosses, is the very 
same; her Latin services, her exclusion of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, her Priestly power, and Papal claims, are the same; not 
one of them is renounced; and the order of Jesuits, once dis- 
banded, is again organized by Rome. Her private Confes- 
sions, her Absolutions, her Indulgences, her doctrine of Purga- 
tory, her vaunting display of robes and habits, her overbearing 
pride ; her Roman yoke, in all its hardships of penance, scourg- 
mgs, fastings, and fines, are the same now, as they were in the 
days of Luther. In what is Rome reformed ? Are her 
Priests more pure? Her Nuns more chaste ? Her ceremonies 
less numerous? Her devotions better understood? Her de- 
signs less grasping? In what is Rome reformed? She anathe- 
matizes all who dissent from her Bishop, with the same curse, 
and pronounces it in the same spirit, as in the sixteenth cen- 
tury. Because her power is brought low, and nations have 
learned to break her burdensome yoke, she seems changed; 
and outwardly she is changed ; but the reform is on the out- 
side. It proceeds from no retraction of her principles, her 
aims, her doctrines, or her practices. They are the same, and 
will be for ever. The Jews did not adhere to the Mosiac law, 
and to the traditions of the Elders, more devoutly, than the 
Roman catholics adhere to the traditions of Rome. Jerusalem 



240 APPENDIX. " 

was destroyed : it could not be reformed. The preaching of 
John, the miracles and doctrines of the Lord Jesus, the displays 
of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Apostles, failed to reform 
the Jews. The destruction of Jerusalem did not reform them. 
They retain their errors to this day. And Rome is no nearer 
conversion. Rome gives no fairer evidence of a reformation 
of heart, than the dispersed of Israel give of loving the name 
of Jesus, the Christ crucified. They hate the name, as Rome 
hates reform* 

" It is written, that Babylon shall be destroyed ; and it is ad- 
mitted by competent judges, and by the proudest Cardinals of 
the Papacy, that in the New Testament, Babylon means Rome, 
only heathen Rome, But the reader knows, that as the wor- 
ship of images is the mark of a heathen, so Rome is, and has 
ever been a heathen city. It may be confidently affirmed of 
every century, since the foundations of Rome were laid, that 
the inhabitants of Rome, by a majority, were worshipers of 
images, were, and are idolators ; and the past affords us no en- 
couragement to expect they will ever be any thing «else. The 
prophet tells how she shall come to an end, and by whose 
hand, [Rev. 18: 8 ;) but, while the Lord spares her, we are 
bound to labor for their good, to open their eyes, and to convert 
their hearts, who are, wherever they reside, Roman citizens, 
not now a title of honor, as it was \a the Apostolic times ; but 
a name which expresses Lordship, and the dominion over other 
men, and places on the earth. 

" While laboring, however, for the conversion of the Ro- 
mans, it is good to bear in mind what has been already 
attempted without success, m order to guide the effort in a 
direction likely to be more successful. In the days of the great 
Reformation, the nations who adhered to Rome, asked, and 
urged, and then demanded a thorough reform of the Papal 
church. The French Ambassadors to the Council of Trent, 
were particularly instructed to insist on a reform in the church 
service, in order to the abolition ot all superstitions and useless 
ceremonies; the concession of the cup in communion to the lay 
members of the church ; the administration of the Sacraments 
in the common languages, and not in Latin ; also the singing 
of psalms and other spiritual songs ; the reading of the Scrip- 
ture, and the public prayers and praises, in the common lan- 
guages instead of the Latin ; the reformation of the licentious 
lives of the Clergy, and many abuses which had crept into the 



APPENDIX. 24l 

Voxirt of Rome, and the church at large, of which they fur- 
nished an ample list. 

" The Spanish Prelates, in that Council, zealously co-oper- 
ated with those of France in this work of reform; and it 
seemed, at one time, as if they would have carried it. The 
Cardinal Lorraine came into the Council at its twenty-third 
Session, with thirty-nine French Prelates, and urged the most 
prompt and energetic measures. He was followed by the Am- 
bassador of France, Du Terrier, who boldly declared, that the 
Church must be brought back to the standard of the Scriptures, 
the Canons, and the venerable Councils : ' Unless this is done, 
Holy Fathers,' (said he,) 'in vain will you inquire whether 
France is in a state of peace.-— We can only answer you, as 
Jehu answered Joram, when he said : Is there peace, Jehu ? 
— What peace, (he replied,) so long as the fornications* — 
you know the rest. But unless this is done, in vain will you^ 
seek for advice or help from this, or that quarter,' " &e. ( Pal- 
la vicini, L. 10, C. 3. Sarpi L. 7, S. 3. Le Plote, V. p. 549. 
Quoted by Cramp, P. 294. 

Notwithstanding the efforts of the great Reformers, and of 
the Council, and the spirited efforts that were made by some 
in the Council, the Sovereign Pontiff who presided by his le- 
gates, overruled the whole. In order that the Decrees and 
decisions of the Council should be according to his own arbi- 
trary will, he urged every Bishop in Italy to attend it These, 
being completely under his control, and mere tools in his 
hands, were influenced wholly by interested motives. The de- 
bates and wrangling of the Council were protracted to twenty- 
one years. Some were for a general Reformation, but the in- 
fluence and authority of the Sovereign Pontiff over his legates 
and partisans, wearied out and bore down all opposition; no 
Reformation was effected ; but, on the contrary, the worst fea- 
tures, and the highest claims of the Romish church received 
an official stamp, such as had never before characterized the 
"Man of Sin" 

The Council was convened in Nov. 1542, under Pope Paul 
Hi, and was continued under Julius III, Marcellus II., Paul 
IV., and Pius IV.— five Popes— and its Decrees were con- 
firmed and ratified by Pope Pius IV., Jan. 26, 1564. 

When the struggle for a Reform was conducted under these 

* 2 Kings ix. 22. 
21 



242 APPENDIX. 

favorable auspices for so long a time, without any real suc- 
cess ; and when the Roman Priests have from that day to this 
hardened themselves in the Roman faith, and in the pride of 
Roman dominion, I see not the ground on which to build a 
hope of the present Reform of that usurping power. Its signs 
and lying wonders, its pretended miracles and Saints, its exac- 
tions, oppressions, superstitions, and self-conceit, are increased 
and multiplied every day; and not one of its burdens are re- 
moved. 

It remains yet to be cried : " Alas ! alas ! — for in one hour 
so great riches is come to nought" Rev. xviii. 16. 

The doctrine of Infallibility is one that forbids the idea, or 
the possibility of Reform. All Roman catholics believe, that 
their " church cannot err in faith, morals, or general disci- 
pline :" and they "believe in all things, according as the Holy 
catholic church believes." And that church condemns, and 
curses blackly in the face, all who refuse to receive her doc- 
trines, and to obey her Canons. To Reform such a church is 
impossible. Her members may be converted and brought 
away from her ; but the supposed Infallible one cannot be Re- 
formed. Her subjects may fall off from her obedience, may 
reject her yoke ; but the destruction of the yoke follows ; and 
this destruction is the only Reformation that haughty Rome 
allows. M The first lispings of the infant, — the conclusions of 
the learned, — the declarations of the nQble, — the Priests' in- 
structions, — the Pontiff's Decrees, — re-echo the sound: n Out 
of the Roman catholic church there is no salvation /"* — Of 
course, Reform cannot be admitted from without ; and how 
shall it spring up within ? The Sovereign Pontiff has the 
most absolute dominion over the minds and consciences of his 
dependants. They cannot begin to think of a Reform which 
does not lead them to think of curtailing his powers; and that 
thought, the pretended Vicegerent will much sooner blast with 
his thunderbolt, than cherish with his blessing. Having it es- 
tablished, that all Christians ought to obey the Roman catholic 
church, the Pope will see that they do it; and any one who un- 
dertakes to Reform that church, will find it alike necessary and 
impossible to obtain the Pontiff's leave. 

* Cramp's Text Book of Popery, p. 47. 



APPENDIX. 243 

I 

CHAPTER III. 

THE VIRGIN MARY. 

The Virgin Mary is so frequently mentioned in this Narra- 
tive, and holds a place so prominent in the affections and devo- 
tions of Roman catholics, that the following notice of her wor- 
ship may prove acceptable to the reader. 

The blessed Virgin is placed at the very head of the list of 
Roman catholic Saints. Her common titles of honor are: 
" The Queen of heaven ;" u The Mother of Mercies;" " The 
Mother of God." Five days of the year are set apart to her 
service, as solemn festivals of praise. 

1. The day of her conception, which is celebrated Dec. 8. 

2. The day of her birth, which is celebrated Sept. 8. 

3. The day of the annunciation by the angel that she should 
have a son, and call his name Jesus, which is celebrated 
March 25. 

4. The day of her purification according to the Mosaic law, 
Feb. 2. 

5. The day of her pretended assumption to the skies, which 
is celebrated Aug. 15. For the Romans believe she was taken 
up to heaven. 

I do not recollect another Saint in the calendar, to whom 
Rome has appropriated more than one day in the year ; but 
even this preference of the Virgin, in honor, falls far below 
the proportion of the respect paid her by presents, and prayers, 
and offerings of devotion in every form. What Hume relates 
of her altars in England, is true of her altars in all the domin- 
ions of the Bishop of Rome at this day ; and is seen verified 
in this Narrative. The pirate-robber who would propitiate the 
favor of heaven, crowned the image of the Virgin with a coro- 
net of pure gold, while the rest of the Saints were, probably, 
treated only to silver coins; and when Poncheetee would gain 
her estate in Spain by the aid of the Saints and of Father 
Francisco, her devotions were paid at the shrine of the Virgin; 
and when Rosamond was ready to sink under her trials, she, 
too, learned of the Roman Priests, to cast herself at the feet of 
the Virgin, and pour out her sorrows there. She never 
thought of going to the throne of grace, and, in the weariness 



244 APPENDIX. 

of her soul, of seeking for rest in the Lord ; but she fell before 
the supposed Mother of Mercies, and worshiped at the image 
of Mary. So the image of the Virgin leads the van of the 
Roman catholic processions, and every where receives the first 
and last honors of the devout Papist. 

When Father Manuel Canto would have Rosamond make 
sure of good luck in gambling, he charged her to bear the 
Virgin on her heart, and to pray to her unceasingly for good 
fortune through the day ; and when the Italian banditti ex- 
cused themselves to an English traveler for the necessity of 
living by robbery, they drew from their bosoms a picture of the 
Virgin and child, set in silver, saying : " We know we are 
likely to die a violent death; but in our hour of need, we have 
these," (touching their muskets,) "to struggle for our lives 
with, and this" (kissing the picture of the Virgin,) " to make 
our death easy," Graham 1 s East of Rome, pp. 155, 161. 

Some of the prayers offered to her in the Roman catholic 
Breviary, or prayer-book, as translated by a Roman catholic 
Priest, will show the estimate in which she is held by the high- 
est authorities of the Roman church: 

w O holy Mary ! v succor the miserable ; help the faint-heart- 
ed ; comfort the afflicted; pray for the people; intercede for 
the Clergy ; make supplication for the devout female sex ; let 
all be sensible of thy help, who celebrate thy holy commemo- 
ration ;" — " Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we, thy 
servants, may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body ; and, 
by the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, may 
be delivered from present sorrows, and come to eternal joy, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The concluding expression "through our Lord Jesus 
Christ," is a form, which the Romans keep up ; but which 
here is plainly obsolete and empty, because the substance is 
contained in the words previous, " by the glorious intercession 
of Blessed Mary, ever Virgin." And certain it is, that the 
Roman catholic, who is sure of her favor and intercession, feels 
no need of any other. 

The word " ever Virgin" expresses an article of universal 
faith among the Roman catholics ; and, at the same time, fur- 
nishes the Priests with one good and sufficient reason, for 
them, to deny the reading of the Testament to the people. 
Every reader of the Scriptures must know, that our blessed 
Lord was the first born of the Virgin, and that he had brethren 



APPENDIX. 245 

and sisters according to the flesh, born of Joseph and Mary, 
— so, that this article of universal credence now among the 
Romans, is a delusion of the apostacy; therefore, to conceal 
this, and other of their falsehoods, the Holy Scriptures are 
denied to the laity ; for the Clergy find their account lie in hold- 
ing fast the traditions of the Fathers, let what will become of 
the divine commandments. 

She is hailed in the Roman Catholic Prayer-book, by 
forty-four different titles of glory, with an aspiration, " Pray 
for us ;" accompanying each. Among them are the fol- 
lowing: 

Holy Mary ! 

Queen of heaven ! 

Virgin most powerful 

Ark of the covenant ! 

Gate of heaven! \Prayforml 

Refuge of sinners ! 
Queen of angels ! 
Queen of all saints ! 

While the pastors hail her in this manner, and the people 
respond, "Pray for us;" and while the Prayer-book glorifies 
her above all Saints, the people regard her as easier of access, 
and more willing to save, than God ; the people worship her 
more freely and commonly than the only living and true God, 
who forbids the worship of images, and who will not give his 
praise to another. The manner in which the people regard 
her, is described in a Roman catholic school-book, as follows: 
" She is most powerful with God, to obtain from him all that 
she shall ask of him. She is all goodness in regard to us, by 
applying to God for us. Being Mother of God, he cannot re- 
fuse her request ; and, being our mother, she cannot deny her 
intercession when we have recourse to her." See Cramp 9 s 
Text book of Popery, p. 357. 

The Roman mode of worship practically excludes the 
thought of God, and removes all dependance on Christ, as the 
intercessor and Saviour; it makes the Saints all and in all ; 
and the Virgin the Queen of Saints, and the Queen of heaven ; 
and this is the Antichrist, " that denieth the Father and the 
Son. 1 ' 1 John 2 : 22. 

One doctrine concerning the Virgin Mary has caused the 
21* 



246 APPENDIX. 

Roman church no small controversy for the last six hundred 
years. Polemics have reasoned, and enthusiasts have waxed 
warm, on opposite sides, until the Roman Mother has found it 
exceedingly difficult, at times, to restrain the anger of her 
children. She has never settled the point in controversy, by an 
authentic Decree, though she has favored those who maintain 
the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, until the great 
body of the Romans take it for a matter settled. 

This controversy shook the great Council of Trent, until, to 
avoid a schism, the Council decreed, that it would not decide 
the question in dispute, but leave it open, as the Jews did that 
relating to John's baptism : Whence is it : of heaven or of 



men 



? 



Those who hold the immaculate conception, maintain that 
the Virgin Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother, 
with the same purity that is attributed to Christ's conception. 
The festival in honor of this pretended fact, commenced in the 
12th century. (Mosheim, Chap. 12, Part 2, Chap. 3, Sect. 19.) 
The Dominicans and Franciscans took opposite sides, and the 
Popes were often compelled to interfere for the purpose of re- 
straining their animosity. Sixtus IV., in the years 1477, and 
1483> enacted, that Indulgences should be granted to those who 
devoutly commemorate the wonderful conception of the Virgin, 
to the same extent as were enjoyed on Corpus Christi day ; 
and that the disputants should refrain from reviling and con- 
demning each other, as the church had not decided the matter. 

Nothing being gained by holding the better opinion, the 
worse grew and increased with the confidence that those who 
honored the Virgin would be honored by her. Rome kept the 
festival of the supposed conception day, and thus strengthened 
the Franciscans, without condemning their opponents. 

When the question of original sin was settled in the Council 
of Trent, it was admitted by all, that Adam's sin was trans- 
mitted to all his posterity, only that the Franciscans would ex- 
cept the blessed Virgin, and the Dominicans refused. Of the 
Pope's tegates, De Monte favored: the immaculateness ; Santa 
Croce opposed it ; and Cardinal Pole gave no opinion. In this 
situation of the matter, the Council agreed to pass it without a 
decision, declaring, "that it is not its design to include in this- 
Decree, which treats of original sin, the blessed and immacu- 
late Virgin Mary." 

But m the seventeenth century, the kingdom of Spain was 



APPENDIX. 247 

convulsed with factions growing out of this dispute, to such a 
degree, that solemn embassies were sent to Rome, to bring the 
dispute to an end by an edict of the Pope. After the most ear- 
nest entreaties, all that the court of Spain could procure of the 
Pope, was, a declaration, that the opinion of the Franciscans 
had a high degree of probability on its side, and forbidding the 
Dominicans to oppose it in a public manner. But this was, in 
the Delphic spirit, accompanied with another declaration, pro- 
hibiting the Franciscans from treating as erroneous the opinion 
of the Dominicans. The immaculates interpreted this in their 
favor, and celebrated it with public rejoicings on both sides of 
the Atlantic. An Order was instituted in honor of the supposed 
event, and a law r was enacted, requiring a declaration upon 
oath, of a firm belief in the doctrine of the immaculate concep- 
tion, from every individual previous to his taking a Degree in 
any of the Universities, or being admitted into any civil or re- 
ligious corporations, which abound in Spain. The same oath 
is administered even to mechanics, upon their being made free 
to work at their trade. Dobladd s Letters from Spain, p. 24, 
25, quoted in Cramp's Text Book of Popery, p. 75. 

The Spaniards are remarkably zealous for the Virgin. 
They honor her at all times. The common courtesies of life 
are not exchanged without reverently mentioning her name, 
" When you enter a house," says a respectable traveler, "un- 
less you wish to be considered as impious, you must begin 
with these words: 'Ave, Maria purissima f 'Hail, spotless 
Virgin !' to which you will certainly receive this answer, l sin 
peccado concebida, 1 'conceived without sin!' 7 ' Bour going's 
modern state of Spain, Vol. 2, p. 276, quoted by Cramp, p. 75. 

In 1708, Pope Clement XL, appointed the festival in honor 
of the immaculate conception, to be annually celebrated 
throughout the Roman church. But the Dominicans still 
hold out. They deny the obligation of this edict upon them ; 
and they are suffered, without molestation, to refuse any part in 
the celebration. Mosheim 's 17 th century, Sect. 2, Part 1, 
Cha,p. 1, Sect. 48. Bellarmine says, the immaculate concep- 
tion is piously believed by the greater part of the church. Dc 
Culler Sanct. L. Ill, C. 16. That was probably true, when 
he wrote, above two hundred years ago ; and it is certainly 
true now; for, in all respects, the tendency of the doctrines and 
practices of Rome is toward corruption, from age to age. 

There is said to be no service in the Roman catholic church 



248 APPENDIX. 

so impressive, as the evening service, or " Ave Maria" to the 
blessed Virgin. They teach, that it is " none other than that 
chanted in heaven by the Saints, around the throne of the Al- 
mighty, and called the sweet communion of " All Saints." Six 
Months in a Convent, p. 75. Having described the ceremony, 
as it is performed in Venice, with the organ, the assembled 
multitude, the tinkling bell, the silent devotion to the Virgin on 
the bended knee, when every head bows in adoration, and not 
a whisper disturbs the spirit of supplication ; in a minute or 
two, the bell tinkles again, and the whole congregation rise, as 
one man : one says, " I witnessed this scene several times, and 
never without a universal degree of emotion." It was equally 
impossible not to honor the feeling of devotion, and not to con- 
demn the Roman doctrine, which teaches the supplicants to 
address their prayers to the imaginary "Queen of Heaven." 
Gillifs Tour through Piedmont. 



APPENDIX. 249 

CHAPTER IV. 

PURGATORY. 

Constant reference is had in this Narrative to the influ- 
ence on Roman catholics, of their doctrine of Purgatory. It 
is one of the great fountains of their power to get wealth, and 
will pay for a few moments' attention. 

The following is an extract of the Decree of the Council o! 
Trent, setting forth the doctrine. " Since the Catholic Church, 
instructed by the Holy Spirit, through the Sacred Writings, 
and the ancient traditions of the Fathers, hath thought, in Holy 
Councils, and, lastly, in this (Ecumenical Council, that there is 
a Purgatory, and that the souls detained there are assisted by 
the suffrages (that is, by the Masses, alms, prayers, and works 
of charity) of the faithful, but,, especially, by the acceptable sa- 
crifice of the Mass ; this Holy Council commands all Bishops 
diligently to endeavor, that the wholesome doctrine of Purga- 
tory, delivered to us by Venerable Fathers, and Holy Coun- 
cils, be believed and held by Christ's faithful, and every where 
taught and preached." 

They learn the doctrine not " through the Sacred Writings." 
No mention is made of such a place in the books of Divine Re- 
velation. They learn it through the " traditions of the 
Fathers," and teach it to their children for holy truth "teach- 
ing things which they ought net, for filthy lucre's sake}' Tit. 

But where it is, and what it is, the Council no more tell us, 
than the Bible, only the Council speak of it, as a place of dis- 
tress, in which the souls of the deceased are confined for a, 
season, on their way toward heaven, out of which they are 
helped to escape by the suffrages, or offerings of the living. 
Cardinal Bellarmine is more particular. He tells us it is " a 
place, in which, after death, the souls of those persons are pu- 
rified, who were not fully cleansed on earth, in order that they 
may be prepared for heaven, wherein nothing shall enter that 
defileth." De Purgatorio, L. 1, C. 1, 2d Maccabees 12, 43-46, 
and Tobit 4, 18, are quoted to prove the doctrine, and also the 
fast of the men of Gilead, for the death of Saul ; and of David 
for the death of Abner, and many like passages of Scrip 



250 APPENDIX. 

ture he wrests to the support of the Roman doctrine of Pur- 
gatory. 

Purgatory they suppose to he in the centre of the earth, one 
of the four compartments of the infernal regions. The first of 
these is the abode of the hopeless^; the second is Purgatory ; 
the third is the place of unbaptized infants ; the fourth is 
Limbo ; where the pious dead tarried before the resurrection 
of the Lord. That is empty now, for the Lord took them with 
him to glory, and Purgatory will be empty hereafter. The 
punishment of the place is by fire, horrible, and enduring. 

The Priests paint, in the most vivid colors, the pains of this 
place, to which every pious Roman catholic, unless he dies a 
rare Saint, inevitably is subject. The Priests also teach, that 
the duration of the pains of the deceased believer, may be short- 
ened by the kind offices of the living, more " especially," as the 
Council of Trent says, " by the acceptable sacrifice of the 
Mass," which only a Priest can offer, and which, in Roman 
catholic countries, he will not offer, without his fees for the 
service in hand ; so that the proverb is sure, " No penny, no 
Pater-noster" They have prayers for every condition with 
the Mass ; one, to be offered at the moment of death ; others, 
at stated intervals after death ; and, again, at the anniversary 
of the decease. On " All Souls' -day, r ' extraordinary Masses 
are celebrated for their universal benefit. A small fee paid to 
the Priest, enables one, at any time, to arrange with him, to ap- 
propriate a part of the benefit of the service to the relief of the 
relative or friend, for whose soul he is concerned. 

The extent to which this corruption is carried almost re- 
moves our indignation, by the excitement of our mirth. In 
Italy and Spain, travelers are continually solicited, by depen- 
dants on the churches and Convents, for contributions in aid of 
the poor souls in Purgatory ; and contributions are made in 
favor of the unknown and friendless sufferers in the flames, 
who have no one to remember their painful condition. The 
Pope has granted for Spain, and confined the grant to Span- 
iards, eight or ten days in the year, when every Spaniard, by 
kneeling at five different altars, and there praying for the ex- 
' tirpation of heresy, is entitled to send a species of " habeas ani- 
mam," or writ, to take the soul of any one he pleases out of 
Purgatory. The name of the person intended to be drawn, 
should, for fear of a mistake, be mentioned in the prayers. 
And then, if it should happen, that he is out already, or con- 



APPENDIX. 251 

fined within the walls where the Pope's writ of habeas corpus 
is not supposed to run, they are taught to add other names, and 
conclude with addressing it finally to the relief of the most 
worthy and disconsolate. Thus they make sure of a reward 
for their pains, by the rescue of some one from the flames of 
Purgatory. These privileged days are announced to the pub- 
lic, by a printed notice, placed over the basin of Holy Water, 
at the entrance of the church. The words written are plain 
and peremptory : " Hoy se saca animal literally, " this is a 
soul-drawing day. 11 Dobladd's Letters from Spain, p. 169, 
quoted in Cramp 1 s Text Book, p. 339. 

In " The London Roman Catholic Directory," may 
be found, in plain English, the appointed days, when every 
Roman catholic is empowered by the Pope, to free one soul 
from the pains of Purgatory, by means of a Plenary Indul- 
gence. These Indulgences are, by the king of Spain, bought, 
wholesale, of the Pope, together with (I believe) the exclusive 
right of retailing them in the Spanish dominions. The mono- 
poly, or sale, is a great source of revenue to the crown of 
Spain. 

The Romish doctrine of Purgatory, is stated thus by Joseph 
Blanco White : u They believe that there is a place very like 
hell, where such souls as die, having received absolution of 
their sins, are made to undergo a certain degree of punishment ; 
like criminals, pardoned on the gallows, but subjected to hard 
labor in the state's prison for a certain time. In the pagan, and 
Roman doctrine, an idea is inculcated, that pain, and bodily suf- 
fering, have the power of pleasing God. This notion gave 
birth to that of Purgatory, and it is the same notion which in- 
duces devout, and sincere Roman catholics, almost to kill 
themselves with self-inflicted sufferings, by stripes, and flog- 
gings, and fasts, and penances of every kind, to make them 
feel holy 11 

" The poor souls think the heavenly account has a credit 
side, in which every suffering they voluntarily endure in the 
flesh for their sins, will be entered up ; and, at death, will be 
subtracted from the debtor side. The balance, if against them, 
they must work out in Purgatory, at a dreadful advance of pen- 
alty and interest, for their presumption and delay; while, if the 
balance should fortunately be in their favor, they are admitted 
to glory at once ; and the overplus of their merits, goes into 
the treasury account of theSaints, for the benefit of others, who 



252 APPENDIX. 

will pay the Pope to obtain it. This treasury account is the 
fund, on which the Pope draws for the Indulgences he sells. 
The young reader will think I am jesting : but in sober earn- 
estness, this is the doctrine and practice of Rome at the pre- 
sent day. Pope Leo the Tenth adds the merits of Christ to the 
Pope's fund. 'The Roman Pontiff may,' he says, 'for reason- 
able causes, grant Indulgences out of the superabundant merits 
of Christ and the Saints, to the faithful, as well for the living 
as for the dead ;' and, in thus dispensing the treasure of the 
merits of Jesus Christ, and the Saints, he either confers the In- 
dulgence by the method of absolution, or transfers it by the 
method of suffrage." Cramp's Text Book, p. 340. 

The Council of Trent passed a Decree, " so that," as they 
say, "the gift of Holy Indulgences may be dispensed to the 
faithful in a pious, holy, and incorrupt manner." Sess. xxv. 

The whole benefit of these Indulgences arises out of the 
doctrine of Purgatory ; and is applicable^ to the state of the 
souls in that place of confinement. They are granted, and 
sold at the rate of so many days in Purgatory. One day's in- 
dulgence means, that the purchaser shall have for his service 
or cash, one day taken off from the time of his sentence to 
Purgatory; "two hundred days' Indulgence," entitles him to 
a deduction of two hundred days from the time of his sentence; 
and when we learn, that, for every kiss impressed on the great 
black Cross in the coliseum at Rome, two hundred days In- 
dulgence are allowed, every one fortunate enough to reach it, 
would seem easily to kiss away the pains of Purgatory. Of 
this, however, the poor Roman catholic may not be too sure, 
for the pains of Purgatory run to the utmost verge of time ; and 
that is a period remote in the calendar of Rome ; for the Pope 
sells at no very exorbitant rate, ten, twenty, and even thirty 
thousand years' indulgence. Rogues of the Roman faith have 
it, therefore, in their power, for a very reasonable considera- 
tion, to carry the Pope's writ of Indulgence with them, to an 
extent that flatters them with the hope of escape shortly from 
the scorching fires to the blissful pains of the world to come. 

" Incalculable treasures have flowed into the lap of the 
Roman catholic Clergy, for which they have to thank the doc- 
trine of Purgatory. The Pope knew his interests too well, not 
to tack the doctrines of Transubstantiation, and the Mass, on 
that of souls in Purgatory. If a Mass, he said, is a repetition 
of the great sacrifice on the Cross, and it is in the power of the 



APPENDIX. 253 

Priest to apply the benefit of it to any one, by naming that one 
in the select consecrating 1 prayer, then, by sending such a re- 
lief to a soul in Purgatory, that soul has the greatest possible 
chance of being set free from the burning flames, and entering 
at once into heaven. Who, that believes this doctrine, will 
spare his pocket, when he thinks his dearest relations are ask- 
ing the aid of a Mass, to escape out of the burning furnace ! 
Accordingly, you will find, that no Roman catholic who can 
afford it, omits to pay as many Priests as possible, to say 
Masses for his deceased relations and friends, and that the poor 
of that persuasion both in England and Ireland, establish clubs, 
for the purpose of collecting a fund, out of which a certain 
number of Masses are to be purchased for each member when 
he dies. Their accounts are regularly kept, and if any poor 
member dies, without having paid up his subscription, he is al- 
lowed to be tormented to the full amount in the other world, 
where the difference between rich and poor, according to these 
doctrines, is much greater than in this life. A rich man may 
sin away, and settle the account with Masses ; but the poor man 
must be a beggar even at the gates of heaven, and for his want 
of money to buy Masses and Indulgences, he must stay out his 
full time in the fires of Purgatory. If a man, for instance, has 
been guilty of the most horrid crimes, murder, adultery, and 
piracy, during a long life, but, on the gallows he repents of 
them with full Confessions to the Priest, and receives Absolu- 
tion of the Roman, his soul goes to Purgatory. There he 
might be for millions of years, but if you procure him a Plen- 
ary Indulgence from the Pope, or, if he obtained one for him- 
self, before his death, all the merits he wanted, are given him, 
and he flies directly to heaven." Preservative against 
Popery, by J. B. White. " Spaniards! ascend to heaven" — 
is said to have been the last words of the Roman Priest, to the 
pirates hung at Boston, this Spring. They had probably de- 
voted money enough out of their plunder, to provide them- 
selves beforehand, every one, with a Plenary Indulgence ; and 
then, by the Absolution of the Priest, they might, according to 
the doctrine of Rome, ascend directly to heaven. 

The Romans are offended, when their Pope is charged with 
giving permission to sin, to those who are able to pay well 
for it. The Pope does not so word his Indulgences ; but thei* 
effect is to permit sin ; for when a criminal has bought a Plen- 
ary Indulgence, or one hundred thousand years to be deducted 
22 



254 APPENDIX. 

from his sentence in the fires of Purgatory, at a certain price, 
he will be tempted to think he can sin with impunity, at least, 
for a few days. Mr. Eustace, himself, a Roman catholic, asks, 
in view of the notoriously depraved state of the public morals 
in Italy, whether it may not be ascribed to " the corruptions of 
the national religion; to the facility of Absolution ; and to the 
easy purchase of Indulgences'?" Classical Tour, Vol. 3, p. 131. 
The modern traveller may answer, who saw a man at Tivoli, 
that had stabbed his brother to death, had been to Rome, bought 
his pardon of the church, and received a written protection from 
a Cardinal, inconsequence of which he was walking about un- 
concernedly, "a second Cain, whose life was sacred." Gra- 
ham 1 s three months East of Rome, p. 34, quoted in Cramp's 
Text Book, p. 345. 



APPENDIX. 255 

CHAPTER V. 

Roman Pride, Tradition, Confession* 

In the course of this Narrative, enough has already been 
presented of the peculiarities of Romanism, to make the reader 
astonished at the delusion of the millions who trust in the In- 
fallibility of the Roman Church, and to create in him a desire 
to know more about the grounds of their confidence. It will 
aid the understanding of the Narrative, to know what are the 
doctrines of Rome upon the topics brought to view in its pages. 
With the aid of the Rev. Joseph Blanco White, a native of 
Seville in Spain, and formerly Chaplain to the king of Spain, 
but now an Episcopal minister of England, I will spread out 
some of the doctrines of Rome. 

Differences are made more manifest by a striking contrast. 
Take the following from Mr. White, under the parable of two 
governors. 

The people of two neighbouring islands, which acknowledged 
the authority uf the samtj sovereign, received each a governor 
from the Metropolis. One of the governors presented himself 
with his commission in one hand, and with the book of the 
Laws in the other. " Gentlemen," said he, " my name is Pro- 
testant Church. Here is the commission which authorizes me 
to govern you according to these laws. You have every one 
a copy in your possession. If ever any of you should think that 
I am stepping beyond my powers, or governing against the 
laws, he may examine the point for himself, and consult his 
friends about it ; and if, after all, he feels inclined not to be 
under me any longer, I will not at all molest him in his re 
moval to tire neighbouring island, or elsewhere, carrying away 
every thing that belongs to him." 

The other governor pursued quite a different course. He 
appeared with all the pomp and display of a great king. He 
gave out that his name was Holy Roman ; and that he had 
authority from the sovereign to rule all nations, and not only 
govern according to the book of the laws, but to make new 
statutes, at his will and pleasure. At the same time, he for- 
bade the possessing and reading of the book of the laws, and 



256 APPENDIX, 

charged his officers everywhere to search out, and punish with 
severe penalties, all those who should possess or read any copy 
of the laws, without his, or his officers' leave ; which leave he 
only granted to those, who would buy the copy at a great price, 
having his interpretation along with the laws. Some of his 
people presented him a petition, saying, u they were perfectly 
willing to obey any one commissioned by their sovereign ; but 
still they conceived themselves entitled to possess and read the 
laws of the country ; and that, if the sovereign had given their 
respected governor authority to make additional laws at his 
will, they would obey them too, provided he would publish, or 
exhibit, an authentic copy of his commission for this high 
trust." 

The Roman governor was wroth ; and answered the petition- 
ers with a voice roaring with fury, that his commission was not 
written with ink, but was sealed with sovereign power ; and that 
those who scrupled it, should feel its withering touch. The pe- 
titioners murmured. "Take these fellows," said the governor, 
ki and let them die by fire. 7 ' While his servants executed his man- 
date, some of the citizens attempted to escape from the island; but, 
at every port, and creek, troops were stationed, who arrested the 
fugitives, and put them to death without mercy, or confin&d 
them in dungeons, until they would take an oath to obey the 
commands of governor Roman Catholic Church, as reverently 
as the book of the laws. And, let me tell you, there was among 
the laws which he added to the statute book, not one but what 
gave him, or his officers, an increase of wealth and power. 

The tyrant governor will not be questioned. He wishes to 
be thought Infallible, and to be believed on his bare word, and 
he puts to a most cruel death, not only those who resist his will, 
but those who would escape from him by flight. 

The Protestant Clergy declare, that they have no authority 
but what the Script ires give, and they submit all their doctrine, 
and their lives, to be tried by the book of the laws. The Ro- 
man Clergy, on the other hand, claim all power, and refuse to 
submit their doctrine, or their lives, to be tried by any man, 
except themselves ; by any standard, except of their own making. 
How manifestly are the enormities detailed by Rosamond, the 
fruits of this irresponsible and exorbitant power ! 

I have thus far copied almost word for word from Mr. 
White's third dialogue, " Preservative against Popery " 



APPENDIX. 257 

and shall continue to do so, while it continues to interest the 
reader of this Narrative. 

The Roman Church grounds its claims on its own au- 
thority, and supports its authority with confiscation, fire, and 
sword. Its fear of the Bible is wonderful. If the Scriptures 
were favorable to the claims of the Roman Clergy, they would 
not object to their free circulation. But having introduced 
many things into the church, which are forbidden in the Bible, 
they are constrained to keep the Sacred Word under the shadow 
of their interpretations, lest its pure light should confound their 
traditions, and images, and false gods. 

In every article which Rome, by tradition, attempts to add 
to the pure gospel, one may plainly see she is striving after 
wealth and power. The Romans declare that the Scriptures 
alone are not sufficient for salvation, but that there is a word 
of God handed down by hearsay, which governs the sense of 
the ivriiten word. By this hearsay, they assure the world 
that the Scripture must be explained ; so that, if the Bible 
says white, and the tradition or hearsay, says black, a Roman 
Catholic is bound to say that white means black in God's 
written Word. 

To enable them to distinguish the true from the false hear- 
says, they pretend to a perpetual inspiration in the authorities 
of their church ; but the existence of this miracle in a commu- 
nity by a great majority composed of men like the Roman 
priests of Cuba, cannot obtain the least credit. 

The council of Trent demand that the Old and New Testa- 
ment, together with the traditions pertaining to faith and 
morals, and preserved by a continual succession in the Cath- 
olic church, shall be received and observed with equal respect 
and affection. These traditions are words said to have been 
spoken by the Lord, or dictated by the Holy Spirit ; and who- 
ever knowingly despises these traditions is accursed by the 
Council. See its sess. 4. 

Having thus established the validity of their traditions, they 
proceed, with the Scribes and Pharisees of old, to make void 
the law of God by their hearsays. They introduce, at this 
open door, every strange doctrine of Rome, Transubstnntia- 
tion, Purgatory, Confession, images, relics, &c. But I will 
confine attention, principally, at this time, to that doctrine of 
Confession, by which Father Manuel Canto took advantage 
of Don Zobriseo's child Mariettee ; and by which many a 
22* 



258 APPENDIX. 

Roman priest, in every clime, is enabled to defile the innocent, 
in the fold of the father and husband, and under the clothing 
of religion. 

In the first place, all Romans pay their Priests a supersti-^ 
tious veneration. A Priest, even when raised to that office 
from the lowest of the people, is entitled to have his hands 
kissed with the greatest reverence by every one, male and 
female, high and low, even by a prince of his Communion. 
Children are taught devoutly to press their innocent lips upon 
those hands into which, as they are told, the very Saviour of 
mankind, who is in heaven, comes down daily : (that is, in 
the performance of the Mass.) The laws of Roman Catholic 
countries are, with regard to Priests, made according to the 
spirit of these extravagant notions. A Priest cannot be tried 
m Spain by the judges of the land for even the most horrible 
crimes. •• Murders of the most shocking kind have often been 
perpetrated by Priests in my country," (says J. Blanco White,) 
" but I do not recollect an instance of their being put to death, 
except when the murdered person was also a Priest. I knew 
the sister of a young lady who was stabbed to the heart at the 
door of the church, where the murderer, who was also her 
Confessor, had, a few minutes before, given her Absolution. 
He stabbed her in the presence of her mother, to prevent the 
young lady's marriage, which was to have taken place that 
day. This monster was allowed to live, because he was a 
Priest ;" and his judges were Roman Catholic Priests. 

What, but the most profound veneration, and servile fear, of 
the Roman Clergy, could secure them impunity of this kind 1 
The same spirit actuates Priests and people in Cuba, and in 
Italy, and in Ireland, and in North America. The equality of 
man with man in this country is maintained by the laws, and 
titles of nobility are forbidden by the Constitution of the United 
States ; yet the power of the Roman Priests to disperse some 
mobs, far exceeds that of the officers of the law ; and the hum- 
ble reverence of the Priests for their Roman Bishops, tran- 
scends the authority of the American Constitution. In the 
intercourse of private life the Roman Bishops are styled " My 
Lord r and they receive the salutations of their humble fol- 
lowers kneeling or falling before them. For this the Roman 
Clergy are indebted to tradition, without whidt pretended 
source of divine revelation, it would be impossible to persuade 
whole nation s s that a Priest can, at any time, turn a wafer 



APPENDIX. 259 

into the Son of God, and can search the hearts of the people, 
to curse them in their sins, or to absolve them from the penalty 
of their transgressions. 

Whoever has a man's conscience in his keeping, must have 
the whole man in his power. This is so well known even in 
Roman Catholic countries, that, when there was a kind of par- 
liament in Arragon, they made a law to prevent the king from 
choosing his own Priest or Confessor ; and the right of electing 
him was reserved to the representatives of the people, called 
Cortes. 

But the bold usurpations of Rome leave her subjects neither 
understanding nor will, where her interests require them to 
become blind tools of her own.* She maintains that it is the 
perfection of faith to believe whatever doctrines she holds, with- 
out hesitation or reservation, whether they appear to be true or 
false : and, indeed, if they appear to be false, the greater is the 
merit of believing them implicitly. And she maintains that it 
is the very height of human perfection, to put the conscience 
wholly into the keeping of the Priests. Not a single pious 
book of common reputation in the Roman church, can be 
found, which does not make unlimited obedience to a Con- 
fessor the safest, and most perfect way, to salvation ; and, in 
the same proportion as a Roman Catholic has a will and un- 
derstanding of his own in religious matters, in that same pro- 
portion he acts against the duties enjoined by his religious 
profession. 

The Roman church makes the Confession of every sin, by 
thought, word, and deed, necessary to receive Absolution from 
a Priest : and teaches, that without Absolution on earth, where 
it is possible to obtain it, there can be no remission in heaven. 
The most sincere repentance is not sufficient to save a Roman 
sinner, without Confession to a Priest, and the Priest's Abso- 
lution, if it is possible to apply to a Priest. The Council of 
Trent teach that all sins committed before baptism are can- 
celled by baptism ; and that sins after baptism are blotted out 
by Confession to the Priest, and his Absolution pronounced. 
If sins are knowingly concealed, they are not forgiven. The 
fainting soul that refuses to open his wound to the surgeon, 
can not expect it to be healed. The penitent is, therefore, re- 



• "A religieuse should never have a will of her own." Lady Sup. of the Charlestown 
Nunnery, in "Six Months in a Convent,"— p. 4f>, 



260 APPENDIX. 

quired to search his recollection diligently, and to explore all 
the corners and hiding-places of his heart, for the sins he has 
committed; and to Confess them to a Priest, that he may have 
forgiveness with God at the hands of the Priest. 

On the other hand, they assert, that, even imperfect repent- 
ance, which they call attrition, will save a sinner, who Con- 
fesses, and receives Absolution. 

The evident object of doctrines so inconsistent with the letter 
and spirit of the Scriptures, is, no doubt, that of making the Priest- 
hood absolute masters of the people's consciences. Every Ro- 
man Catholic is bound, under pain of excommunication, to 
Confess, at least once a year ; and thus the Priests become in- 
trusted with the secrets of all hearts in the great congregation. 
They enforce their authority, by impressing the penitents with 
the belief, that any one sin of the heart knowingly concealed 
from the Priest through a sense of shame, will make the Ab- 
solution pronounced on them a sacrilege, and a mortal sin. 
The effects of this bondage, the reluctance which young people 
especially have to overcome, and the frequency of their making 
up their mind to garble Confession, in spite of their belief, that 
by silence they increase the number and guilt of their sins, are 
evils which none but a Roman Priest can be perfectly acquainted 
with. 

The paltry plea of Roman Catholic writers, that Confession 
is a check upon men's consciences, causing them to restore their 
ill-gotten wealth, deserves only indignation, as a barefaced at- 
tempt to bribe men's love of money to the support of Romanism. 
In a case where the main interests of religion and morality are 
concerned, it is an insult to hold up the chance of recovering 
stolen money through the hands of a Priest, as if to draw away 
public attention from the monstrous evils, which the reader has 
seen, and has yet to see, springing out of the Roman doctrine of 
Confession. Restitution is no more probable among Roman 
Catholics, than among any other denomination of Christians. 
It is less probable. For every Protestant firmly believes in the 
necessity of restitution in order to obtain the divine forgiveness; 
and he is in no danger of anticipating pardon, without restitu- 
tion, which the Roman catholic is, owing to the dependance 
which Romans place on the power of the mysterious words, 
"Ego te absoJvo, &c," used bv the Priest in pronouncing Ab- 
solution. Having heard the words, the Roman, in the faith 
that he has received the full pardon, is in no little danger of 



APPENDIX. 261 

neglecting" the conditions on which it is pronounced. He may, 
in the joy of his deliverance from the penalty of theft, forget to 
restore the stolen articles. 

The Protestant who earnestly and sincerely wishes the di- 
vine pardon, knows that he cannot obtain it, without equally 
earnest efforts to make restitution ; but when the Roman Cath- 
olic has assured his Confessor that he will try his best to in- 
demnify those he has wronged, the words of Absolution are, to 
him, a sort of charm, that removes the guilt at once, and, con- 
sequently, relieves his uneasiness about restitution. 

One of the greatest evils of Confession is, that it has changed 
the genuine repentance preached in the Gospel, — that conver- 
sion and change of life, which is the only true external sign 
of the remission of sins through Christ, into a ceremony, which 
silences remorse at the slight expense of a little sorrow for past 
offences. As the day of Confession approaches, (which, for 
the greatest part, is hardly once a year,) the Roman Catholic 
grows restless, uneasy, and gloomy. He mistakes the shame 
of a disgusting disclosure, for sincere repentance of his sinful 
actions. At length, he goes through the disagreeable task, 

and feels relieved.. t The old score is .cancelled; and he may 
run into a new spiritual debt, with lighter heart. " This "I 

know," says Mr. White, (to whom the reader is indebted for 
all that is most valuable in this chapter,) "this I know from 
my own experience, both as Confessor and as penitent. In the 
same characters, and from the same experience, I can assure 
you that the practice of Confession is extremely injurious to 
the purity of mind enjoined in the Scriptures." Filthy com- 
munication is inseparable from the Confessional. The Priest, 
in the discharge of the duty enjoined upon him by his church, 
is bound to pry out, and listen to the most abominable descrip- 
tions of all manner of sins. He must inquire into every cir- 
cumstance of the most profligate course of life. Men and 
women, the young and the old, married and single, the rude 
and the gentle, are all bound to describe to the Confessor the 
most secret actions and thoughts, which are either sinful in 
themselves, or may be so from accidental circumstances. 

Consider the danger to which the Priests themselves are 
exposed ; a danger that becomes every day more overwhelm- 
ing to the poor soul of the Priest, as the filthy communications 
he has before received are working their natural corruption of 
his good manners, and correct habits; a danger so imminent, 



262 APPENDIX. 

that the Popes have, on two occasions, been obliged to issue 
the most severe edicts against those Priests who openly attempt 
the seduction of their female penitents. I will not, however, 
press this subject, because it cannot be done with sufficient 
delicacy. 

No invention of the Roman church equals this of Confession, 
as regards the power it gives the Priesthood. One of the great- 
est hinderances to the establishment of a free and rational form 
of government in Roman Catholic countries, in Italy, Austria, 
and Spanish America, lies in the opposition which free and 
equal laws meet with, from the Priests in the Confessional ; 
and the greatest danger to a free government arises from the 
same source ; for a Priest can promote even treason with 
safety, in the secrecy which protects the Confessor's office. 

It is astonishing that the Roman church could persuade the 
nations to submit to a power so revolting and dangerous, as 
the Priests wield in the Confessional ; and it is a question how 
far it should be tolerated, and how far restrained, by the laws 
of this land of civil and of religious liberty, a land that in prof- 
fering freedom to all, does not indulge any with leave to tram- 
pip. On t.hp- nPr»L"' r\f a fol lnnr./>rDQhiro. Piron 5» ^Prioot r\n tho no/»V 

of a freeman, in the name of Rome. The time has come when 
the people of the United States are called on to look Rome and 
her cohorts in the face ; and to establish some bounds to the 
deluge of filthy and impious customs, which are pouring into 
the country from the territories of the Pope. The errors of 
Rome did not grow up in one night, nor did the power of her 
Bishop overtop the kings of the earth in one day. Hers has 
ever been a keen-eyed policy, reaching far into futurity, and 
gathering into her fatal grasp the liberties of all nations. Her 
aim is fixed on the subjugation of this country to her imperial 
sway, and though the time of conquest must be remote, her 
plan is to make it sure in its day. 

The man of power in this world, that pretends to be infalli- 
ble, must be by nature intolerant, so soon as his infallibility be- 
comes predominant. The infallible man, when he has the 
power, will compel other men to conform to his infallible ex- 
ample, and to believe his infallible opinions, and to bow before 
his infallible will and pleasure. Such a one is growing up, 
and daily strengthening itself in these free states : such a one is 
the Roman church that is now gentle as a candidate for public 



APPENDIX. 263 

favor ; and yet, in its nature, is oppressive as the Roman Priest 
in the Confessional. 

The enormous power of searching the hearts and of forgiving" 
the sins of the people grew up imperceptibly in the hands of 
the Priesthood, together with the whole system of the Roman 
religion. It was the practice in the primitive Church, to ex- 
clude scandalous persons from public worship, until they con- 
fessed their misconduct before the whole congregation. This 
mode of discipline became burdensome at length, and it was 
left by the congregation with the pastors to receive the con- 
fessions of the scandalous, and to restore the truly penitent to 
the rights of a worshiper. In the growing ignorance and cor- 
ruption of aftertimes, the people began to believe that this act 
of external reconciliation with the congregation was a real ab- 
solution of the moral guilt of the sin ; and the church of Rome, 
with that perpetual watchfulness, by which she has never 
omitted an opportunity of increasing her power, foisted upon 
the Christian world what Romans call the Sacrament of Pe- 
nance, obliging her members, as they wish for the Lord's gra- 
cious pardon of their manifold sins, to Confess them every one 
to a Roman Priest 



264 APPENDIX. 



CHAPTER V. 

SUPERSTITION. 

White. Before I proceed, I must ask you whether you 
have a clear idea of superstition? 

Reader. I believe I have a tolerable good notion of it. 

White. Superstition consists in credulity, hopes and fears 
about invisible and supernatural things, on slight and fanciful 
grounds. We call that man superstitious, who is ready to 
believe any idle story of ghosts and witches ; who nails a horse- 
shoe upon the ship or barn to keep off bad luck, and dreads evii 
consequences from stepping out of doors the first time in the 
morning with his left foot first. Rome encourages this state 
of mind, though not these very things. 

Every church may be compared to a great school of reli- 
gious instruction. I will present you a pupil of the Roman 
school, and draw the picture from various Roman catholics 
whom I have intimately known. 

Imagine my Romanist friend retiring to his bed at night 
The walls of the room are covered with pictures of all sizes. 
Upon a table there is a wooden or brass figure of our Saviour 
nailed to the Cross, with two wax candles, ready to be lighted, 
at each side. Our Romanist carefully locks, lights up the can- 
dles, kneels before the Cross, and beats his breast with his 
clenched right hand, till it rings again in a hollow sound. It 
is probably a Friday, a day of penance : the good man looks 
pale and weak. I know the reason — he has made but one 
meal on that day, and that on fish ; had he tasted meat, he feels 
assured he should have subjected his soul to the pains of hell. 
But the mortifications of the day are not over. He unlocks a 
small cupboard, and takes out a scull, which he kisses, and 
places upon the table at the foot of the Crucifix. He then strips 
off his clothes, and with a scourge, composed of small twisted 
ropes hardened with wax, lays stoutly to the right and left, till 
his bare skin is ready to burst with accumulated blood. The 
discipline, as it is called, being over, he mutters several pray- 
ers, turning to every picture in the room. He then rises to go 



APPENDIX. 265 

to bed ; but before he ventures into it, he puts his finger into a 
little cup which hangs at a short distance over his pillow, and 
sprinkles with the fluid it contains, the bed and the room in 
various directions, and finally moistens his lorehead in the 
form of a Cross. The cup, you must know, contains Holy 
Water — water in w T hich a Priest has put some salt, making" 
over it the sign of the Cross several times, and saying some 
prayers, which the church of Rome has inserted for this pur- 
pose in the Mass-book. 

The use of that water, as our Roman Catholic has been 
taught to believe, is to prevent the devil from approaching the 
places and things which have been recently sprinkled w r ith it ; 
and he does not feel himself safe in his bed without the pre- 
caution which I have described. The Holy Water has, be- 
sides, an internal and spiritual power of washing away venial 
sins ; those light sins, I mean, which, according to the Roman- 
ist, if unrepented, or unwashed away by Holy Water, or the 
sign of the Cross made by the hand of a Eishop, or some othtT 
five or six methods, which I will not trouble you with, wiil 
keep the venial sinner in Purgatory for a certain time. 

The operations of the devout Roman Catholic are probably 
not yet done. On the other side of the Holy Water cup, there 
hangs a frame, holding a large cake of wax, w 7 ith figures raised 
by a mould, not unlike a large butter-pat. It is an Agnus Dei, 
blest by the Pope, which is not to be had except it can be im- 
ported from Rome. I believe the wax is kneaded with some 
earth from the place where the supposed bones of the martyrs 
are dug up. Whoever possesses one of those spiritual trea- 
sures, enjoys the benefit of a great number of indulgences; 
for, each kiss impressed on the w T ax, gives him the whole value 
of fifty or one hundred days employed in doing penance and 
good works ; the amount of which is to be struck off the debt 
which he has to pay in Purgatory. 

1 should not wonder if our good man, before laying himself 
to sleep, were to feel about his neck, for his Rosary or Beads. 
Perhaps he has one of particular value, and like that which I 
was made to wear next my skin, when a boy. A Priest hac| 
brought it from Rome, where it had been made, if we believe^ 
the certificates, of bits of the very stones with which the first 
martyr, Stephen, was put to death. 

Being satisfied that the Rosary hangs still on his neck, he 
arranges its companion, the Scapulary, formed of two square 
23 



266 APPENDIX. 

pieces of the stuff which is exclusively worn by some religious 
order. By means of the Scapulary, he is assured either that 
the Virgin Mary will not allow him to remain in Purgatory 
beyond the Saturday next to the day of his death ; or, he is 
made partaker of all the penances and good works performed 
by the Religious of the Order to which the Scapulary belongs. 

At last, having said a prayer to the Angel, who, he believes, 
keeps a constant guard over him, the devout Romanist com- 
poses himself to sleep, touching his forehead, his breast, and 
the two shoulders, to form the figure of a Cross 4*. The 
prayer and ceremonies of the morning are not unlike those 
of the night. Armed with the sprinkling of Holy Water, he 
proceeds to Mass ; if it happens to be one of the privileged 
days, in which souls may be delivered out of Purgatory, you 
will see him saying a certain number of prayers at different 
altars. He will repeat the Rosary in honor of the Virgin Mary, 
dropping through his fingers either fifty-five or seventy-seven 
t>eads, which are strung in the form of a necklace. There 
aiay be a blessing with the Sacrament, which the good Cath- 
olic will not lose, for the sake of the Plenary Indulgence which 
the Pope grants to such as are present. On that occasion you 
would see him kneeling and beating his breast, while the 
Priest, in a splendid cloak of silk and gold, in the midst of 
lighted candles, and the smoke of frankincense, makes the sign 
of the Cross with a consecrated wafer, enclosed between two 
pieces of glass set in gold. 

It would, indeed, be an endless task, were I to enumerate all 
the methods and contrivances of this kind, recommended by 
the church of Rome to all her members, and practised by all 
who are not careless of their spiritual concerns. These are 
facts which no honest Roman Catholic will venture to deny. 
I therefore ask, whether, since Revelation is the only means we 
have of distinguishing between religion and superstition, I ask 
whether the whole system of the church of Rome, for the at- 
tainment of Christian virtue, is not a chain of superstitious 
practices, calculated to accustom the mind to imaginary fear, 
and to fly to the church for fanciful remedies? St. Paul had 
a prophetic eye on this adulterated Christianity, when he cau- 
tioned the Colossians, saying : •« Let no man, therefore, judge 
you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day. Let 
no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility, 
and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which 



APPENDIX. 267 

he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not 
holding the head from which all the body by joints and bands, 
having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth 
with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye be dead with 
Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living 
in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, [touch not, taste not, 
handle not, which all are to perish with the using,) ajter the 
commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have 
indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility, and 
neglecting of the body." Col. ii. 

I cannot conceive a more perfect resemblance than that 
which exists between the picture of a devout Romanist, and 
the will-ivorship described in this passage. Observe the dis- 
tinction of days, the prohibition of certain meats, the worship- 
ing of angels, the numerous ordinances, the mortification and 
neglect of the body, and most of all, the losing hold of the head, 
Christ, and substituting a constant endeavour to increase, spir- 
itually, by fleshly, that is, external means, instead of fortifying, 
by a simple and spiritual worship, the bands and joints, through 
which alone the Christian can have nourishment, and increase 
with the increase of God. 

Reader. I confess that the likeness is very striking. But I 
wish to know if all will-worship of the Romanists is fully re- 
commended by their church. 

White. It is, and in the most solemn and powerful manner. 
You have only to look into the devotionals which are used 
among the Romanists, and you will find their Bishops encour- 
aging this kind of religious discipline in the most unqualified 
terms. I could read to you passages innumerable, confirming 
and recommending more fleshly ordinances than ever the Jews 
observed : and this, too, in English Roman catholic books, 
which, for fear of censure on the part of the Protestants, are 
generally more shy of disclosing the whole system of their 
church, than those published abroad. But what settles the 
point at once, and shows, that it is the church of Rome, and not 
any private individual, that adulterates the character and tem- 
per of Christian virtue, I have only to refer you to their Com- 
mon Prayer-book, which they call the Breviary. Now, that 
is a book not only published and confirmed by three Popes, 
but which they oblige their whole Clergy to read daily, for at 
least an hour and a half. Such, indeed, is the importance 
which the church of Rome attaches to that book, that she dt>- 



208 APPENDIX, 

dares any Clergyman or Monk who omits, even less than an 
eighth part of the appointed daily reading, guilty of sin worthy 
of hell, — a mortal sin, which deprives man of the grace of 
God. The Breviary contains Psalms and Collects, and lives 
of Saints, for every day of the year. Those lives are given as 
examples of what the church, of Rome declares to be Christian 
perfection, and her members are, of course, urged to imitate 
them, as far as it may possibly be in every one's power. Now, 
I can assure you, having been for many years forced to read 
the Breviary daily, that there is not one instance of a Saint 
whose worship is not grounded by the church of Rome, mainly 
upon the most extravagant practice of external ceremonies, and 
the most shocking use of their imaginary virtue of Penance. 

Reader. What do they mean by penance ? 

White. The voluntary infliction of pain on themselves, to 
expiate their sins. 

Reader. Do they not believe in the atonement of Christ ? 

White. They believe that the atonement is enough to save 
them from Hell, but not from a temporal punishment of sin. 

Reader. But have they not Plenary Indulgences to satisfy 
for that temporal punishment ? 

White. So they believe ; but the truth is, that they cannot 
understand themselves upon the subject of penance and Indul- 
gences. Penance, however, the Roman church recommends 
eon at the expense of depraving the sense of the Gospel in* 
their translations. As there is nothing in the New Testament 
which can make self-inflicted pain a Christian virtue, the Ro- 
manists, wanting a text to support their practices, have rendered 
the third verse of the 13th Chapter of Luke, " unless ye be pen- 
itent, ye shall all 'perish' 1 Yet, this was not enough for 
their purpose ; and, as the same sentence is repeated in the 
5th verse, there they slipt in the word penance. Their trans- 
lation of that verse is, "unless ye shall do penance, you shall 
all alike perish.'''' By the use of this word they make their 
laity believe, that both Confession, which they call penance, 
and ail the bodily mortification which go among them by the 
same name, are commanded by Christ. 

Reader. That, Sir, I look upon as very unfair. 

White. And the more so, my friend, as in the original Gos- 
pel, the word used by the inspired writer is the same in both 
verses, and cannot by any possibility mean any thing but a 



APPENDIX. 269 

change of the mind, which we properly express by the word 
repent. 

Reader. What, Sir, is the origin of their attachment to 
bodily mortification ? 

White. A mean estimate of the atonement of Christ ; and 
the example of some fanatics, whom, at an early period of the 
corruptions of Christianity, Rome declared to be Saints and 
patterns of Evangelical virtue. The Monks, who took them 
for their models, gained an unbounded influence in the church; 
and, both by the practice of some enthusiasts among them, and 
by the stories of miracles which they reported as being the re- 
ward of their bodily mortification, confirmed the opinion of the 
great merit of penance ainong the laity. Here, also, the mu- 
tual aid of the doctrines invented by Rome, contributed to in- 
crease the error; for as the Popes teach that the Indulgences 
which they grant are taken from the treasure of merits col- 
lected by the Saints, it is the interest of those who expect to 
escape from Purgatory by the aid of Indulgences, that the treas- 
ure of penances be well stocked: and they greatly enjoy the 
accounts of wonderful mortifications which their church gives 
them in her Prayer-book. You know that Saint Patrick is 
one of the most favorite Saints among the Irish Roman catho- 
lics, as having been the first who introduced Christianity into 
their Island. The church of Rome gives the following account 
of his daily religious practices; holding him up, of course, as 
a pattern, which if few can fully copy, every one will be more 
perfect as he endeavours to imitate: — The Breviary tells the 
Roman Catholic, that when their patron Saint was .a slave, 
having his master's cattle under his care, he used to rise before 
daylight, under the snows and rains of winter, to begin hisr 
usual task of praying" one hundred times in the day, and again 
one hundred times in the night. When he was made a Bishop, 
we are told that he repeated every day the one hundred and 
fifty Psalms of the Psaltery, with a collection of canticles and 
hymns, ard two hundred collects besides. He made it also a 
daily duty to kneel three hundred times, and to make the sign 
of the Cross with his hand eight hundred times a day. In 
the night he recited one hundred Psalms, and knelt two hun- 
dred times, — passed one third of it up to his chin in cold water, 
repeating fifty Psalms more, and then rested for two or three 
hours on a stone pavement. 



270 APPENDIX. 

Reader. I cannot believe it possible for a man to perform 
what you have said, unless he have the strength and velocity 
of a steam engine. That account must be false. 

White. I will not enter into the question of its probability ; 
ail I have to do with, is the principle which it inculcates, ami 
proposes to the Roman catholics. External ceremonies, and a 
course of self-murdering practices, are proposea by the church 
of Rome, in nine out often lives of her Saints, as objects of imita- 
tion. In the same spirit, St. Catherine of Siena is represented as 
so addicted to the practice of fasting, that heaven, to indulge her 
in the performance of that pretended virtue, kept her by miracle, 
without food, from Ash- Wednesday till Whit-Sunday. (So the 
Breviary proclaims before the face of the world.) That is, 94 
days, from the fourth of March to the seventh of June. 

Reader. How far does the church of Rome recommend the 
infliction of pain, as penance ? 

While. To an excess that destroys every year many well- 
meaning and ardent persons, especially young women of that 
Communion.* These deluded creatures read the lives of Saints 
set forth by their church, and there they find many females who 
are said to have arrived at great perfection by living like St. 
Elizabeth of Portugal, one half the year on bread and water; 
besides the constant use of scourging their bodies, sleeping on 
the naked ground, wearing bandages with points that run into 
the flesh, plunging into freezing water, and ten thousand other 
methods of gradually destroying life. But when a young, 
tender, and ardent mind, is taught that God is pleased by volun- 
tary suffering, and reads that the church of Rome has made 
Saints of those who have died by penances, every thing which 
falls short of actual self-murder, will assume the appearance of 
moderation. 

The church of Rome, in her Breviary, commends Saint The- 
resa, because " her ardor in punishing the body was so vehe- 
ment as to make her use hair shirts, chains, nettles, scourges, 
and even roll herself among thorns, regardless of a diseased 
constitution. 11 These are the words of the Breviary: from 



c " Sister Mary Magdalene was in a consumption. She had entered the Convent, nine 
months before in perfect health, and was now worn oat with austerities." She died 
sqpn after. " Six Months in a Convent," p. 105. 

So many were the victims that died tmdfrthe austerities of the Monastic Rules in 
Kentucky, that the friends and relation of these self-murdering devotees, had to re- 
monstrate with the Superior of the Order; who. at length, in consequence of their 
repeated solicitations and complaints, relaxed the severity of the discipline,— E&. 



APPENDIX. 271 

which the enthusiastic Roman catholic properly infers, that to 
disregard a diseased constitution, and hasten death, is a virtue. 
That such is the effect of the Popes' lives of the Saints, is clear 
from what the Breviary relates of another female Saint, called 
Rose of Lima. She, it is said in the Roman catholic Prayer- 
book, t; from a desire to imitate St. Catherine," wore, day and 
night, three folds of an iron chain round her waist, a belt set 
with small needles, and an iron crown armed inside w 7 ith points, 
all next the skin. She made to herself a bed of the unpolished 
trunks of trees, and filled up the chinks with pieces of broken 
pottery. The Breviary adds, that she did all this in spite of 
her "tortures from sickness," and was therefore frequently 
visited by Saints, angels, and even by our Saviour from heaven. 

Reader. But, do Roman catholics really believe in those 
visits % 

White. A sincere Roman catholic cannot disbelieve what his 
own church so constantly teaches, without entertaining strange 
suspicions against the veracity of the organ and ground of his 
faith. Nothing can be more positively asserted, than these 
supernatural wonders ; nothing more frequently repeated, than 
the thousands of miracles contained in the Breviary. If, there- 
fore, a Roman Catholic believes them all, or the greatest part, 
he must be credulous like a child ; if he disbelieves them all, 
or the greatest' part, he must look on the Popes and the church 
of Rome, either as a set of rogues, or downright fools. 

Were I to translate the stories of Saints from the Breviary, 
you would imagine I was amusing you with tales of goblins 
and fairies. You would hear of three different Saints who 
have sailed on their cloaks, as if on board a ship, carrying 
sometimes several Monks with them. In that manner we are 
assured by the Pope, that Saint Francis de Paula crossed the 
straits of Sicily; Saint Raymond de Pennafort, from Majorca 
to Barcelona; and Saint Hyacinth, a large river of Poland, 
swollen by a flood. You would hear of a Saint Frances of 
Rome, who would stand for a long time in a river without be- 
ing wet; and who used to quench her thirst with grapes pro- 
duced by miracle, in the heart of winter. You would find a 
Saint Peter of Alcantara, who was provided with a roof of 
snow, under which he might pass the night, and who made his 
staff grow into a fig-tree! 

What man of common sense would remain in the church of 
England, if our Proyer-book had it, as a most certain fact, that 



272 APPENDIX. 

Westminster Abbey had been built at Paris, in France, and 
that some hundred years ago, it had taken a flight to the French 
coast, opposite to Dover: and having rested a few years, had, 
in a second flight, placed itself where it now stands? 

Reader. Has the Breviary any story like this? 

White. Perfectly like it. It relates that the house in which 
the Virgin Mary lived m the land of Judea, was carried through 
the air, by angels, to the Coast of Daimatia, and from thence 
to Loretto. in the Pope's dominions, w r here it is worth millions 
to the Popish Clergy; such is the number of Pilgrims that go 
to visit it, and the large and valuable presents which for many 
centuries have been sent by Roman catholic Princes and No- 
blemen to ornamen^it. 

Reader. There is so much falsehood in the face of that 
story, that I would not believe anything in the shape of a Mir- 
acle from the same channel. 

White. Yet there are Roman catholics, who, rather than 
give way to the Protestants, will endanger the credit of the 
whole Gospel, by asserting that he who will not believe in the 
miracles which are reported on the authority of the church of 
Rome, has no reason to receive those of the Gospel. Were we 
to believe the Roman catholic Prayer-book, there is scarcely a 
Saint, who did not begin to work miracles from its birth: nay, 
we are told of St. Bridget, that she saved her mother from 
drowning, being as yet in the womb! 

The bells used to ring of their own accord when Saints were 
born, as happened with St. John a Deo, St. Peter Celestinus, 
and many others ; a swarm of bees built a honey-comb in the 
hands of St. Ambrose, St. Peter Nolascus, St. Isadore, and sev- 
eral other Saintly babes, while in their cradles. Another baby 
Saint had her face changed into a Rose, from which her name 
was given her. These holy children often speak before they 
are five months old, as was the case with St. Philip Beniti, who, 
at that age, scolded his mother for not giving alms to some 
begging Friars. All these wonders, and ten thousand others, 
still more absurd, are asserted in the Prayer-book of the church 
©f Rome. 

Reader. I cannot help thinking, that though the church of 
Rome is not the best school for Christian instruction, it must 
afford a mine of amusement to its followers. Her ceremonies, 
her miracles, her relics, must afford an agreeable variety to 
those who have never doubted her creed. 



APPENDIX. 273 

White. Ah, my friend ! nothing can be more deceitful than 
the appearance of that church. There is more misery pro- 
duced by her laws and institutions, than I can possibly describe, 
though I have drunk her cup of bitterness to the dregs. In 
the first place, a sincere mind, which is made to depend for the 
hope of salvation, on any thing but faith and unbounded trust 
in the Saviour, can never enjoy that Christian peace, u which 
passeth all understanding.' 11 I have known some of the most 
conscientious Roman catholics, which that church can boast of; 
my own mother and sisters were among them. I have been a 
Confessor not a few years, and heard the true state of mind of 
the most religious Nuns, and such as were looked upon as liv- 
ing Saints, by ali the inhabitants of my town. From this inti- 
mate knowledge of their state, I do assure you, that they are, 
for the greatest part, so full of doubts about their salvation, as 
not u infrequently to be driven to madness.* In their great 
anxiety to accumulate merits, (for they are taught that their 
penances and religious practices are deserving of reward in 
heaven,) they involve themselves in a maze of external per- 
formances. Then comes the fear of sin, in the very things 
which they undertake under the notion of pleasing God ; and, 
as they believe their works are to be weighed and valued 
in strict justice, the sincer'y of their hearts cannot help dis- 
covering, not only that the} are nothing worth, but that sin is 
often mixed with their performance. In this state, they are 
never impressed with the idea, that " the blood of Christ cleans- 
eth from all sin 11 whenever the sinner, with a lively faith, re- 
ceives him as his only Saviour. They are not taught that good 
works are the fruit of true faith ; but that they bear a true share 
with Christ in the work of our salvation. They are thus forced, 
by their doctrines, to look to themselves for the hope of heaven; 
and what can be the consequence, but the most agonizing fear ? 
With the view of heaven and hell perpetually before their eyes, 
and a strong belief, that the obtaining of the one, and the avoid- 
ing of the other, depends on the performance of a multitude of 
self-imposed duties, as complicated, and more difficult than 
those of the ceremonial law of the Jews; what can be the result, 
but distracting anxiety? In his progress through the stormy 
sea of life, the Romanist clings with one hand to Christ and to 



* This I confirm, and my knowledge of the fact Is derived from the samo source e 
tbat of Joseph Blanco White ; and that is, from Confession.— Ed. 



274 APPENDIX. 

the Saints, and depends on the strength of the other to break 
the waves. He locks, (as man always does, in cases of great 
danger.) not to the stronger, but to the weaker ground of his 
dependance for safety. Fear constantly predominates in his 
heart. 4, Mind your swimming hand," say his Priests; "ply 
it stoutly, or Christ will allow you to sink! !; 4i Repent; and 
believe cm the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved:' is the 
language of the Bible. We must change our mind, (for that is 
what repentance means,) from the pursuit of righteousness, 
and brino; forth fruit meet for repentance, placing our whole 
trust in Christ, in order to become justified with God. But the 
Roman catholic believes, that his good works are, in part, at 
least, the ground of his justification, and he is anxious to in- 
crease it. by the performance of numerous external ordinances, 
and especially by the endurance of self-inflicted misery, ail 
which fails to satisfy the conscience, fails to compose the trou- 
bled heart to rest 



APPENDIX. 275 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE APOSTACY — -IMAGES. 

Our Lord, in discoursing with his disciples of the sign of 
his coming, and of the end of the world, cautions them, that 
" Many false prophets shall rise, and deceive many. 11 Matt. 
xxiv. 11. By prophets, ministers are intended, or preachers. 
He had already taught them how they might know them " by 
their fruits, 11 on two different occasions, Matt. vii. 15; and 
Matt. xii. 33. 

The blessed Peter, and the beloved John likewise, forewarn 
us of the same thing. " There shall be false teachers among 
you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying 
the Lord that bought them. 11 2 Pet. ii. 1. " This is that spirit 
of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come. 11 

1 John iv. 3. 

But Paul is more particular. In the 2d Thess. 2d chapter, 
he speaks of the "falling away, 11 which shall unfold itself 
gradually, and come forth in the form of the Man of Sin, the 
Son of Perdition, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit 
of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming. 
In other places he speaks of the same thing. 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; and 

2 Tim. iii. 1. 

The book of Revelation exhibits the same fact in the delinea- 
tion of Babylon the Great, its seat, its power, its character, and 
its fall. And the learned Roman catholics admit, that the 
Babylon of the Revelation is Rome, but they say it is manifestly 
Pagan Rome, and not Christian Rome, that is intended by the 
prophecy. (Eus. His. L. 2. c. 14. Bar. An. Vol. 1. 380. Bel 
larmine.) 

It is essential to the aposlacy intended, that it should occur 
in the Church ; for it is impossible to "fall aivay 11 from ground, 
on which the falling body did not once stand. And, moreover, 
Paul says expressly, that the man of sin shall sit in the temple, 
or house of God, 2 Thess. ii. 4 ; and that the house of God is 
the church. 1 Tim. iii. 15. So, likewise, it is essential to false 
prophets and teachers, that they should come in the form and 



276 APPENDIX. 

profession of Gospel ministers. " By their fruits ye shall 
know them. 11 

The fruits of the Roman prophets and teachers, are plainly- 
exhibited in these papers; but lest some should think it impos- 
sible that sensible and learned men, professing godliness, and 
resting their eternal hopes on the Gospel and its promises, 
should worship images of wood and stone, and fall into the 
snares of the great Adversary, to do his works of darkness, as 
these pages show, I have thought good to examine some of 
the doctrines of Rome in connexion with the practices of those 
who teach them, as narrated here; among which, that of image 
worship, or idolatry, is one of the most conspicuous. 

Idolatry in the church is the most barefaced apostacy. Ro- 
mans themselves admit it. How, therefore, do they pretend to 
be the true church, and yet bow down before, and lift up their 
eyes and their voice unto, a graven image'? Charity forbids 
that we should believe them guilty of it, so long as the evidence 
in the case does not compel our belief; and having been so 
long time one, who accounted this charge of idolatry against 
the Romans to be the offspring more of bitter prejudice, and 
settled hatred, than of immutable truth, I am willing to meet 
the reader with abundance of facts, to enable him to judge for 
himself of the apostacy of Rome from the Christian faith in the 
matter of worshiping idols. 

No evidence of the use of images in the churches, or in con- 
nexion with Christian worship, is found earlier than the time 
of Constantine. Paul openly rebuked the Athenians for think- 
ing that u the Godhead is like unlo gold, or silver, or stone, 
graven by art, or man's device :" Acts xvii. 29 ; and the silver- 
smith who made shrines at Ephesus, caused no small excite- 
ment against the Apostle, because he brought contempt upon 
images, not excepting that of the Great Diana, " whom Asia, 
and all the world worshipeth" Acts xix. 27. 

The Apostle does not charge the Athenians with the folly of 
thinking the gold, or silver, or graven image, was God ; but 
in the likeness of God : nor do Demetrius and the craftsmen 
say, that all Asia and the world worshiped the image, but Diana, 
whom the image represented. Yet the Romans think it no 
sin to reverence and kneel before the images, because they 
know that the silver Crucifix is not the Christ, and the painted 
and carved wood, or graven stone, is not the Virgin Mary; 
and because they only paid their adorations to the heavenly in- 



APPENDIX. 277 

habitant, through the visible representation on canvass, wood, 
and stone. 

The Athenians and the Ephesians could have equally well 
defended their worship from the attacks of the Apostle by the 
same argument now in common use among Roman catholics. 
The worshipers of Juggernaut now, and of Dagon in the times 
of Samuel, could equally well explain the difference between 
the God they worshiped, and the image, before which they 
worshiped him. 

The ancient Romans were devout in this way. The Scipios, 
the Ciceros, and the Fabii of old Rome, feared the heathen 
gods, and the retributions of the world of spirits : these gods, 
however, were in heavem, were spirits of the air, and not the 
images, before which they worshiped the gods. The Greeks 
undoubtedly worshiped the supposed heavenly inhabitants, and 
feared the thunder-bearing Jupiter*; but they paid their vows, 
like the modern Romans, before images of gold, silver, or stone, 
graven by art, or man's device, in the likeness of the godhead 
which they adored. 

It appears throughout this Narrative, (as it is, also, well 
known to all travellers in Popish countries,) that the Roman 
catholics have their images, and do worship before them ; and 
they call the wood or stone by the name of the person it is 
meant to represent, as if that person were present in the place 
of the picture, or graven or molten image. Such a habit have 
they, and have those who learn of them, that they speak of the 
image of Peter, as Peter; and of the image of Mary, as the 
' virgin herself; insomuch that in this very Narrative, one of the 
corrections to be made, was, the insertion of the " image of" 
before the name of the image: as for example, the Narrative 
read according to the language of Roman catholics, " candles 
burning under our Saviour and the Virgin Mary;" which, as 
afterward corrected by her, reads, candles burning under the 
image representing our Saviour and the Virgin Mary. So 
u they carried our Saviour and the Virgin Mary;" — that is, 
they carried canvass, wood, or stone, representing the Lord of 
glory and the blessed Virgin. But Roman catholics uniformly 
call the images St. Mary, St. Paul, St. Michael, our Sa- 
viour, &c. (fee. It is almost incredible that such a thing exists in 
the present enlightened age of the world, and among professors 
©f the Christian religion; but they are common in the Roman 
church, and are universal in Roman countries. They may be 
24 



278 APPENDIX 

traced to their source, in the church, about the time of the uio* 
cletian persecution, and the triumph of Constantine which 
closely followed it. 

It strikes the reader of the Bible with wonder, that Israel 
should have enticed Aaron to make for them a calf to worship, 
even while Moses in the mount received the Tables of the 
Law, written with the finger of God; and that Solomon should 
have turned from the temple which he had built, and from Je- 
hovah, whom he had invoked in the dedication, and whose 
glory, by a divine manifestation, filled the house, to worship 
" Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians" and " Milcom, the 
abomination of the Ammonites" and "Chemosh of Moab, and 
MolechP 1 Kings, xi. 5 — 8, It fills the mind with astonish- 
ment, that while the Jews experienced so much of the divine 
favor, they should have apostatized from God, and have made 
to themselves images j that they should not have considered 
nor understood enough to say of the wood : " / have burned 
part of it in the fire, yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals 
thereof I have roasted flesh, and eaten it ; and shall I make 
the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I fall down to the 
stock of a tree.'' 1 Isa. xliv. 19. They were given into the hand? 
of ancient Babylon for their idolatry; and it may be for the 
same reason that the church of the Gentiles has been given 
into the hands of modern Babylon. It is amazing, but not 
more strange, that the modern church "should fall into idolatry, 
than that the ancient church should apostatize. The sin of 
idolatry was the ruin of Jerusalem, and the same sin has long 
overhung the church of Rome with threatening clouds of 
swift destruction. 

The introduction of images into the sanctuary of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, is so contradictory to the plain terms of Holy 
Writ, and yet so common, that one can hardly believe the cus- 
toms of the Roman catholic church. They deny the worship of 
images, bat their actions give a flat denial to their words. To 
explain this state of things, we look earnestly into the origin 
and history of the practice of image w or ship in the church. 

Neither the Apostles, nor any writers of the Church after 
them, make mention of images in the churches, until the 4th 
century. Minutius Felix, about the year 211, published a 
dialogue of a Christian and Pagan, disputing about the relative 
value of their different modes of faith and worship. The Pagan 
demands of the Christians ; M cur nullas aras habent templa nulla 



APPENDIX, 



279 



nulla ntfta simulacra?" (Why they have no altars, no temples, 
no celebrated statues?) That which to the Pagan was a re- 
proach, was glory to the Christian ; but it is not the glory ot 
modern Rome : she has altars, and temples, and statues enough, 
to satisfy any Pagan of ancient or modern times. See Baro- 
nius 1 Annals, vol. 2. p. 238. * 

This Baronius is the Annalist of Rome, and without hesita- 
tion his statements are received by the Roman catholics, as 
those of Robertson are by Scotchmen. The first color of an. 
image in the church that he takes notice of, is a picture of a 
man carrying a sheep on his back, representing on the glass 
communion cup, the Shepherd's recovery of his hundredth 
sheep, lost in the mountains. {Seethe parable, Luke xv.) This 
is mentioned by Tertuliian, De Pud. cap. x. Bar. vol. 2. p. 
349. Of these cups, " numbers were found in the ancient 
cemetery of Priscilk, Via Salaria, Rome, opened in 1578." ' 
Bar. 1. 529. 

Supposing the fact were, as Baronius states ; the figure on a 
consecrated cup used in the Sacrament, is a very different thing 
from an image set out by itself; and the use of the cup is legit- 
imate, whatever image may be on it ; while worshiping be- 
fore an image is forbidden, whatever its form may be. But the 
story is improbable. 

The next mention of the introduction of images made by the 
historian of the Roman church, is in connexion with the name 
of Gregory Thaumaturgus, St. Gregory, the miroxle ivorker, 
who lived in the middle of the third century. Gregory was a 
Bishop of Great Armenia, in Asia. During the 7th or Decian 
persecution, A. D. 250, he saved his life by flight. On his re- 
turn after the persecution, he instituted games and festivals in 
honor of the recent martyrs, and in imitation of the Pagan 
games, at the tomb of the celebrated dead. Virgil's descrip- 
tion of the games at the tomb of Anchises is of this sort. 
Gregory Nyssen, who lived within a hundred years of Gregory 
Thaumaturgus, celebrated the memory of the great man in an 
oration, from which Baronius furnishes the following extract. 
Bar. Vol L p. 372. 

"He returned again to the city; and passing through, and 
searching all the country around, he instituted a supplement, and 
as it were, a corollary of love to the Holy IVity, (additameritum, 
et quasi corollarium studii, erga riumen divinum instituebat,) 
everywhere requiring the people to assemble in the naineof those 



280 APPENDIX. 

who had struggled for the faith; (during the late persecution,) 
and to celebrate festal days, and solemn rites, (to their memory;) 
and when different men in different places, had brought forth 
the bodies of the martyrs, the assembled throngs rejoiced on the 
anniversary, keeping holydays in honor of the martyrs. And 
when he had observed how the simple and illiterate multitude 
persisted in the mistaken respect for images, in order that he 
might by all means perfect in* them what is most excellent ; 
to wit, that, forsaking vain superstitions, they should turn unto 
God, he permitted them, in honor of the holy martyrs, to make 
merry, solace themselves, and riot with joy: (permisit eis, ut in 
memoriam sanctorum martyrum, sese exhilirarent et oblecta- 
rent, atque in laetitiam effunderetur.)* 

Euthimius, in Panopol. Pars. 3. Tit. 2.Q. quoted by Baronius^ 
says : This Gregory Thaumaturgus, first of all, ordered the 
wooden Crosses placed by him in certain places, to be wor- 
shiped, (adorari;) and that the people should flee to them, as 
to a sacred refuge. The Saintly acts recorded of the same 
Gregory, say : " With lighted lamps and candles, he removed 
the bodies of the martyrs, and placed each one of them honora- 
bly by itself; and he ordered the sign of the Lord's passion, the 
Cross of Christ, to be worshiped in each of these places." And 
again : " The martyr here also set up the Cross, and bade the 
multitude assiduously engaged there, and flocking to that place 
with prompt and ready desire of heart, to offer worship by the 
adoration of the Cross." Bar. Vol. 3. p. 67. A. D. 311. Sec. 23. 

-This Euthimius lived in the 12th century; (Lempriere ;) 
and the acts of Gregory are a forgery ; yet these are the au- 
thority of Baronius for the first worship of the Cross. In forg- 
ing a story, the great object of desire is, to support the point at 
issue by a probable statement of pretended facts ; and the forger 
of this story would not have laid the scene of the first worship 
of the Cross in Armenia, if he could have mustered courage, 
to lay it in Jerusalem, or Rome ; and he would not have dated 
it A. D. 311, had he dared to have insulted the memory of the 

• Nyssen does not say that Thaumaturgus gaTO way to this prejudice "of the simple 
and illiterate multitude," so far as to allow them holy images as well as holy days, and 
feasts and games, in honor of the martyrs, although his words imply as much. And 
here is the first introduction into practice, of the doctrine of intention. The doctrine 
itself was not generally taught, until the order of Jesuits arose ; but Thaumaturgus 
acted upon it. The worship of heathen images, and the keeping of heathen feasts in 
honor of the dead, were plainly unchristian acts ; but Thaumaturgus altered the inters 
tion of the mind, so as to worship, images of the saints* an4 to keep the feasts of t&> 
martyrs in the church, without the sin of idolatry, 



APPENDIX. 281 

Apostles and Christians of the first three centuries, with charg- 
ing this idolatry of the Cross upon them. Neither the impu- 
dence of Euthimius, nor of the forger of the Acts of the Martyrs, 
attained a sufficient height, to pretend a case of the worship of 
the Cross, which the historian of the Roman church has 
deigned to notice, until the 4th century. 

In introducing his quotation respecting Gregory Thauma- 
turgus from Gregory Nyssen, the Roman catholic historian 
exclaims; " Sed quid V- — But why? — Is it not lawful, to trans- 
fer to pious uses, the things after their being consecrated by a 
Holy Rite, which things are impiously used among the pagans 
in superstitious worship, in order that Christ may be honored of 
all, even by a high contempt of the devil, in the very way he de- 
lights to be worshiped?" — Oh, what a wonder, that the learned 
historian of the Roman church, who himself received on one oc- 
casion, thirty-one votes out of the seventy for Pope, should think, 
by the devil's delights, to honour the Saints and their King ! 

Theodoretus, an Asiatic Bishop, who died about A. D. 460, 
(Lempriere,) is the next witness introduced by Baronius, to 
prove the contiguity and fitness of image worship. In his 
Evang. Vent. Lib. 8. de Mart. Theodoretus treats of the Pagan 
holydays, piously and devoutly transferred to the service of 
the Roman catholic church, in honor of the martyrs, and says: 
"The materials of the overthrown Pagan temples, being re- 
built in temples and altars of the martyrs, are consecrated (to 
the use of the Church.) The Lord brought his own dead 
Saints into the temples, in place of your gods, and these, indeed, 
empty and stript of glory he sent away. And this honor he 
gave his martyrs: instead of feasts of Pan, of Jupiter, and of 
Bacchus, that is, solemnities in honor of Jove and of father 
Bacchus, solemn rites are to be*" performed with a feast, in honor 
of Peter, Paul, Thomas, Sergius, Marcellus, Leontius, An- 
toninus, Mauritius, and other holy martyrs. Instead of the 
ancient pomp, low obscenity, and immodesty, chaste, pure, and 
temperate feasts are held, not stained with wine, nor corrupt 
with wantonness; not filled with laughte ding with 

cheerful songs, and solemn with hearing sacred dis 
Bar. vol \.p. 588", and vol. 1, p. 37& This Theodoretus 
was once deposed from his Bishopric,! u1 \vheth< r for teaching 
idolatry, does not appear. Me i ittd proba- 

ble in his statement, that the Saint if hoh iver-e 

modestly substituted in place of tb< 
24* 



282 APPENDIX. 

some extent, at least, in Asia, so early as the 4th century. It 
is a very natural account of the origin of the monstrous prac- 
tice of image worship in the Roman church, and since it is 
furnished by the learned and most renowned of the historians 
in that church, it is to be hoped that the Roman catholics will 
take heed to it. 

Baronius reasons upon the statement of Theodoretus in this 
manner. So Paul seems by very extraordinary prudence, to 
transfer the altar at Athens, dedicated to the unknown god, to 
the service of the true God. Again, he did not forbid to eat 
meat offered to idols, unless a weak brother should be offended 
at it ; " but the superstitious worship of idols having been a 
long time wholly extinct, and when all occasion of offence seems 
to have at the same time ceased, why is it not lawful to use any 
of them, especially when, not by private habit, but by the com- 
mon custom of the whole Church, some customs common with 
Pagans are in use, (in the Church.") He then enumerates 
the dresses of the Roman Priests, and a number- of customs, 
common to the ancient and to the modern Romans, to Pagan 
and to Christian Rome. Bar. vol. 1. p. 373. So he admits 
and justifies idolatry, or image worship. 

Eusebius, the historian of the era of Constantine, is also 
quoted in defence of the use of images in the church. The 
quotation is an account of the images of our Lord, and of the 
woman who was healed of her issue of blood, by the touching 
of the hem of his garment ; and exhibits a painful specimen of 
the credulity and idolatry of the 4th century. Eusebius was a 
celebrated Bishop, as well as historian. He says, he himself 
saw the images, (or statues as he calls them,) at Cesarea 
Philippi ; that they were made of brass, and represented the 
woman supplicating, and the Lord extending his hand towards 
her. " At his feet," says Eusebius, (meaning the feet of the 
image representing the Lord,) "grows a certain foreign and 
unusual herb, which, when it has grown high enough to touch 
the hem of his brazen garment, has the virtue and medical 
power of healing every kind of disease. This statue, they say. 
is a likeness of Jesus, which remains to our times, and journey- 
ing to that city, we saw it with our own eyes. Nor is it won- 
derful that those gentiles, who were blessed by the Saviour, 
when he dwelt among men, did make images of him, seeing that 
we esteem the pictures of Peter and Paul, the Apostles, and 
e&en of Christ himself expressed and preserved in paint- 



APPENDIX, 283 

ings, with a variety of colors : and that, moreover, as is very 
likely, because our ancestors, approaching as nearly as possible 
to the imitation of heathen customs, used in this manner to 
place before them in honor, those who had been, as it were, their 
deliverers, — that is, those ivho had brought them any salvation 
or relief P Bar. An. A. D. 31. Sec. 75. 

This is very plain. Eusebius saw these images; and he 
and other Bishops esteemed the pictures of Christ and his 
Apostles ; and this custom of esteeming the pictures was 
adopted by their ancestors from a natural propensity, to come 
as near as possible to the heathen customs. The urgent reason 
he does not name, but doubtless it was to save themselves in 
times of severe persecution, by showing to the persecutors, that 
though they bowed not to images and statues of the heathen 
gods, they kept and reverenced the pictures of the Lord and 
his Saints. No ingenuity can devise a more natural way than 
this, for the gradual introduction of image worship into the 
bosom of the church, through her pastors and Bishops, who 
were the first to be smitten in persecution, and also the first to be- 
tray their flocks by the introduction of Pagan customs into the 
spiritual worship of the Christian Church. 

But observe, as evidence of the credulity of that age, that this 
eminent Bishop believed the story of the divine herb, and its 
miraculous powers of healing; and observe, as evidence of the 
ignorance of the age, that this Bishop and learned historian knew 
so little of the Gospel, that he does not mark, nor does Baronius, 
the discrepance between the pretended images of the healing, 
and the fact of the healing. The woman with the issue of 
blood was healed, not by the Lord extending his hand to her 
supplication; but by extending her hand in faith, to touch the 
hem of his garment. Again, she was not a gentile, which the 
account of Eusebius implies, but a Jewess, asthe Scripture im- 
plies ; and her healing took place, not at, or near Cesarea 
Philippi, but near Capernaum. The Syrophenician woman 
was a gentile, and the healing which she sought was much 
nearer to Cesarea Philippi, in a genlile land ; but then that 
healing was not performed on the woman, nor was it of an 
issue of blood ; it was for her daughter that she obtained the 
Lord's mercy, and because the daughter was vexed with a 
devil. The whole story, therefore, sets out in the plainest man- 
ner, the credulity, and ignorance, and strange tendency to idola- 
try, of the great Bishop Eusebius; all which the Roman histo* 



284 APPENDIX. 

rian swallows without hesitation, and with a high relish. He 
makes much of the images of brass, seen by Eusebius, and of 
the pictures of the Lord and his Apostles, referring to them 
triumphantly ia proof of the contiguity of image worship. 1 
hope the reader will not think lightly of this Baronius, for he 
is the most eminent historian of the Roman religion, and his 
statements and opinions are of the greatest weight among all 
Roman Catholics. 

Rut of this Eusebius, one of the members of the Tyrian 
Synod, Potamon the Great, Bishop of Heraclea in Egypt, 
said some hard things to his face. Bishop Eusebius presided 
in the Synod. Potamon was a member, and addressed the 
president thus : " Do tell me, were not you and I in prison to- 
gether during the persecution? I, indeed, lost an eye for 
maintaining the truth; but you seem to have escaped without 
any corporal injury ; nor have you any testimonial to show of 
your fidelity; but living, you stand without the loss of a mem- 
ber. How did you escape from prison, unless you promised 
the persecutors, that you would do that which is base ? Euse- 
bius rose in anger, and dismissed the assembly." (Epiphanius, 
quoted by Bar. vol. 2. p. 762.) 

Baronius, and every other historian admits, it is not easy to 
show that images were used in the Church, before the reign of 
Constantine ; and the reasons which he assigns, are, that the 
Emperor Diocletian, who preceded Constantine, ordered them 
all to be destroyed ! 

Much has been said and written of the 10th, and last perse- 
cution of the Christians by Diocletian, and of all the persecu- 
tions by the Roman Emperors ; but who has, at any time, 
heard before, that the Pagan and persecuting emperors ever 
destroyed images ? They worshiped images, and they loved 
those, who, like them, worshiped images, and they destroyed 
only the Christians, who, of all men, alone, refused to bow to 
an idol, made of wood or stone. Diocletian never persecuted 
idolaters, nor destroyed images. No Pagan en record, ever 
persecuted another for image worship, or destroyed the images 
of others. Pagans reverence each other's gods. Conquering 
nations, especially Rome, adopted the gods of the subject na- 
tions ; and Rome set up an image to the name of Jesus, among 
her host of deities in the Senate Chamber. It is wholly new 
under the sun, that the idolators of Rome, or of any other coun- 
try, have destroyed the images of the gods of other people ; and 



APPENDIX. 285 

that the persecution of Diocletian was poured out upon the 
images of the church, utterly to destroy them, is a Jesuit's fic- 
tion, contrary to the plain testimony of all ancient history. 

It is asserted, however, by Baronius, and admitted, that Con- 
stantine made many silver images of the Lord, and of his Apos- 
tles, of John Baptist, and the Angels, and a multitude of others. 
Writers of every age and name, may be quoted to prove the 
Emperor Constantine' s use of images in Christian worship : 
and this most publicly, and often. He came to the throne a 
Pagan, he was crowned with Pagan rites by Pagans, he mar- 
ried a Pagan, the daughter of the persecuting Emperor, Maxi- 
milian, and he lived surrounded by Pagans, administering the 
government of Rome by a Pagan senate, and he died, and was 
buried with the usual apotheosis* or deification, of a Pagan 
emperor of Rome. His own statues were everywhere wor- 
shiped by the loyal Pagans, and equal honors were paid by him 
to statues representing the king of kings. He tolerated 
Christianity; but the medals, and adulatory poems and history 
of those times, show, that Constantine also "worshiped the heathen 
gods, attributed publicly his prosperity to their favor, and gave 
them, by name, the honor. See Baronius, A. D. 307. 14. 

This is a new light, in which to view the first Christian em- 
peror ; and it shall be the work of a few moments to show 
clearly, it is the true light. 

Baronius had access to authorities on this point, probably 
equal to those possessed by any other historian. He had a 
strong predilection to prove and maintain the Christianity of 
Constantine, and any thing which he admits, may be readily 
taken, to prove the emperor's idolatry. 

* The apotheosis was done thus for the emperors of Rome. Being dead, the body 
was laid in the tomb, like that of a common mortal, and the whole city went into 
mourning. A Statue or imago of the deceased, however, was laid, as if sick, on a 
couch in the palace. The Senate sat on the left in black, and the ladies, in white, 
on the right hand of the sick image, mourning all the day for seven days; during 
which physicians came daily, and, on examination, pronounced the image getting worse. 
In the end of the days, it was dead, and nobles bore it on their shoulders to the old 
Forum, where their sons on one side, and their daughters on the other, sang elegies 
in memory of the deceased. 

Thence they removed the image to the Campus Martins, where a square mass of tim- 
ber was laid up for the occasion, like ahut, filled with combustibles, and overspread with 
gold-cloth, and paintings. Beneath this frame is another, and within thai another, to 
the last and Ihe loast, in which the image was placed on its much, and covered with 
every sort of aromatic, until all the compartments were filled. Then they rode in a 
circle around the pile, The successor to the empire first applied a torch to the pile, 
pr frame ; others imitated him. The flames seize the combnstiblfts, and burst out; 
at the same time an eagle is let loose from an inner window, which is though! to bear 
the dead emperor's soul to heaven, to a seat among the gods, Prom thai time he was 
worshiped as a pod, and had sacrifices, altars, temples, and priests, decreed to his 
service by the {senate of Rome. Bar. An. vol. 2. p. 941, 



£56 APPENDIX. 

I: is r. :: :.e:essary to say that in proving his idolatry, his 
dill .ristianity must fall to the ground with those of 

Rome, 

Reader. — "Ikrt : you think to show, at this late day, that 
Constantine the Grer.: biiaban 

I answer, that I will show indisputably what he was. and 
then you ma ether hr Christian or not. Pro- 

bably the emperor will appear to hare been a politician firs! 
and a Christian, when that did not interfere with his royal 
swav. and the stability bis throne. 

me to the throne of his father Constan- 
rhe emp ed by four emperors. Maximinian, 

btei famine married, had A 

aius had Illyrieem M s had It:;. Urica, and 

Constantine had the West aim and Britain. At 

that time they were all Pagans: and, except Constantine, they . 
were also persecutors. In , Constantine. by agree- 

ment with Liemius, marched against Maxentius, and sud- 
denly overthrew him in battle. Hr ::::ributed L s to a 
m, in which he f s in "the heavens with this motto : 
" / : . :; 

en told with as many variatio: mpany 

the air of a fashionable strain of n He adopted what is 

called a Cross for his banner ; and his soldiers fought ut 

like the favored of heaven : but his banner came no nearer to a 

an the emperor did to Christian: form is 

found impressed on many coins of I rding to Baronius. 

Constantine: s name appears with it only in this form. And 

at not the likeness of that on which the Son 

Mi - issi ely laid down his life at the word of a Roman 

governor. 

The conqueror gave a decided advantage to the persecuted 
Christians of Italy and Africa. But Rome and her Senate 
were pagan. So were the other emperors. Constantine could 
not, if he would, prevent the usual demonstrations of heathem 

ined in those demonstrations. He 
particularly attentive to the feelings and prejudices of the 
He triumphed in the usual heathen form of the Ro 
man emperors. The arch that was erected to celebrate his 
vict: decorated with the usual emblems of Paganism. 

The Senate erected a statue to the god "paulo ante Italia 
senium et corona, a short time before ike glory and defence 



APPENDIX, 287 

of Italy" Baronius says this was an image of our Saviour; 
" Romce non ignotam effigiem, an image not unknown at Rome, 
which image the emperor Alexander had set up among his 
household gods. [He reigned at Rome, A. D. 235.] Nor 
could the Senate, on that account, appear to depart from the 
customary worship, by erecting a statue to Christ, seeing that 
Alexander had not departed from it, when he placed this 
image among the other images of the gods, in the place where 
he daily went for prayer." Bar. A. D. 312. Sec. 69. Alex- 
ander Severus had statues of Abraham and of Christ in the gal- 
lery of his gods. Milmari s Hist, of Jeivs, B. 19. 

These things belong not to the character of an humble 
Christian; nor to Christianity. The emperor, at this time, 
made no profession cf Christianity. He was a Pagan, who 
yet favored Christians, and doubtless respected their faith. He 
was Pordifex Maximus, or Pagan high-priest of Rome, and 
exercised the powers appertaining to that office, in which office 
he was followed by his Christian successors on the imperial 
throne, for more than fifty years, until Gratian was crowned. 
Gratian first refused this heathen title and pagan office. But 
the authority of the Pontifex Maximus was important in the 
government of the Pagan Senate and city of Rome, for by it 
the emperor could prohibit the. voting of the people in the 
elections, if he found the results likely to displease him : by it 
he could at any moment interrupt the proceedings of the Sen- 
ate, could stop the execution of their decrees, could force the 
consuls to resign, and could make a war depend on his single 
will. 

Indeed, this pontifical power of the Roman emperor is the 
parent stock into which the Papal power was ingrafted ; and 
the Bishop of Rome has taken for his model, the Pontifex Max- 
imus of Pagan Rome. 

Political considerations might seem to justify Constantine in 
continuing this office, and to justify his successors after him ; 
but it is manifest that the union of this Pagan office, and its 
necessary duties, with the profession of Christianity in the per- 
son of the emperors, for sixty years, must have opened the 
flood-gates of Pagan superstition into the bosom of the church. 
And this was by no means the only gate by which those su- 
perstitions were commended to the courtiers, and dependants 
of the emperors, at whose will and pleasure all the officers of 
the empire held their honors. 



288 APPENDIX. 

After subduing Maxentius, Constantine, A. D. 313, settled 
the government of Rome, and met Licinius in conference at 
Medislanum, and gave that Pagan his sister in marriage. They 
issued a joint decree, restoring to Christians liberty of con- 
science, and the restoration of the property of which they had 
been robbed. They also induced Maximinus in the East, to 
suspend the persecution which had commenced under Diocle- 
tian, and to allow Christians, in his dominions, to live in peace. 

The first act of Constantine' s life, in which he ventured to 
offend Paganism in favor of Christianity, appears to have been 
his neglect, A. D. 313, of the public games got up with great 
brilliancy in honor of the emperor and of the gods. To the 
great disappointment of the Romans, Constantine refused to 
attend. 

Maximinus was a proud heathen. He claimed to be, and, 
in some respects, he was, the greatest of the three emperors. 
His pride and indolence together, betrayed him into a w r ar with 
his neighbor Licinius, who beat him, and ruled over the East 
in his stead. 

Licinius soon grew wearied of Christians in his prosperity ; 
for he also had vices w T hich they reproved. A mutual jealousy 
sprang up between him and Constantine, which was aggra- 
vated by their different religions. Constantine identified his 
interests with Christianity ; and Licinius, his with Paganism. 
At length they armed, and fought with all their hosts and 
strength, in the name of their gods, for universal empire. Be- 
fore joining battle, Licinius called his officers around him, in 
a grove, lighted with wax candles, and filled with images of 
the heathen gods, and there he put the question of their being 
the true gods, on the result of the battle and of the war, as that 
result might be determined by the courage of his army, and 
the favor of his gods ; and he proclaimed to them, that if Con- 
stantine should be victorious, the new and strange god v whom 
Constantine worshiped, must be acknowledged to be supreme. 
They engaged. After contending all day, Licinius withdrew 
from the field. Constantine followed him into Thrace. They 
fought as before, Constantine having the advantage with great 
cost. By his own account, he owed the victory to the banner 
of his Cross, which inspired his soldiers with such courage, 
that wherever it came, they prevailed : and he, observing this, 
sent the banner to the place where the battle was the sorest, 
having fifty chosen men, whose sole care it was to defend the 



APPENDIX. 289 

manner. Once the standard-bearer was slain, and a great cry- 
arose, as if the ark was in danger, and the Pagan triumphed : 
and the Adversary did triumph, while Christians learned to 
shed human blood in behalf of the Prince of Peace and his 
Cross. 

The emperors made peace, Licinius yielding Illirium, and 
retaining the remainder of his dominions, and his veneration 
for the heathen gods. 

The next year saw the contest renewed, and Licinius de- 
feated both by sea and land, receiving his life from the clem- 
ency of Constantine ; and yet strangled by his own hand, or 
another's, shortly after. 

Now possessed of universal empire, nothing withstood the 
will of Constantine but the ministers of the church, and chief 
of these, the Bishop of Rome. Sozomenus, an historian of that 
age, says : " Having subdued the whole empire, Constantine 
no longer concealed his natural temper, but indulging his pas- 
sion, he did all things at will. He used the sacred rites of his 
ancestors, not so much in honor, as of necessity." 

Sozomenus was a Pagan, and the rites which he calls sa- 
cred, were the pagan rites. These Constantine restored a year 
or two after the fall of Licinius, so far as to reinstate the public 
soothsayers, in order to please the Romans, who dearly loved 
their Pagan ceremonies, and confided in the gods of images. 
Bar. An. A. D. 320. Sec. 23. This favor toward the heathen 
discouraged the Christians, and subjected them to the taunts of 
the Pagans, who wished to make them join in the performance 
of the public sacrifices. The Bishop of Rome, Silvester, fled 
for his life, and concealed himself from the wrath of the emperor, 
which he had excited by opposition to Constantine' s edicts in 
favor of the heathen worship. 

The emperor, having offended the Pagans by his preference 
of Christians, and the Christians, by his temporizing with sin, 
and expelling the Bishop, next fell out with the heir of his 
throne, Crispus, his eldest son, and then with his wife, Fausta, 
both of whom he put to death, on slight grounds. By this 
time he was ready to recall the Bishop, and leave Rome. 
Rome could not endure two Cesars, one of the church, and one 
of the state. Constantine withdrew, and built the city of Con- 
stantinople. Here he ruled the empire without the restraints 
of the Roman Bishop ; and the Roman Bishop ruled in the 
church with constantly increasing authority. 
25 



290 APPENDIX. 

From this time the power of the Roman empire wanes, and 
the power of the Roman church waxes strong ; but so slow 
was the revolution of power, that it was three hundred years 
yet before the Roman Bishop shook off the authority of the 
emperor, and before he, who withheld the Man of Sin in Paul's 
time, was taken quite away. (2 Thess. ii. 6 and 7.) 

The occasion of his removal from the government of Rome 
was the publication of his edict against images, and image wor- 
ship. , The emperor saw that the church had fallen into idola- 
try, and with an earnest desire to correct the evil, he ordered 
the idols everywhere to be destroyed. The Bishop of Rome 
rebelled, on the ground, that the worship of images was a mat- 
ter of church jurisdiction with which the emperor had no right 
to intermeddle; and, that custom and convenience, warranted 
their use in the churches, so that it was a sacrilege worthy of 
endless death, to enter the churches and destroy the images. 
The Bishop, therefore, hugged the idols, excommunicated the 
emperor, gradually shook off the }^oke of the empire, from A. D. 
725, to 750; and, by the year of our Lord 800, he is said to 
have put that triple crown on his own head, which he still 
wears to the end; a crown significant of the three domains of 
earth, which had fallen under his sway; and also of the sway 
he wields in and over the realms of heaven, earth, and hell; '.to 
bind and loose, to open and shut, to curse and to bless whomso- 
ever he will, for time and eternity. 

" The church of Rome has so closely copied the idolatrous 
superstitions of the Pagans, that all persons, not blinded by 
fanatic zeal for Rome, are struck with the great similarity. 
Their lighted candles, their frankincense, their images that 
came down from heaven, some of their ceremonies of the Mass, 
and many forms of their private worship, are just the same, as 
formed a part of the service done formerly to the idols of the 
heathen. Even the Pagan manner of acknowledging the pre- 
tended miracles by hanging up in the temples little figures of 
wax, or pictures representing the part of the body, which is 
supposed to have been supernaturally healed, or the accident 
from which the person escaped, is constantly practised wher- 
ever the Priests of Rome direct their flock, without fearing a 
laugh from their Protestant neighbors." J. B. White. 

There is not a disease, not an evil, for which the Pope has 
not a labeled Saint, and his image ; not a country of Christen- 
dom, nor an art, nor a eallin g" in life, that has not its patroa 



APPENDIX. 291 

Saint. Instead of the ancient deities, Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, 
Venus, Diana, and others, Rome now furnishes statues of the 
Virgin Mary, Peter, Paul, John, and others. Instead of the 
old household deities, the Roman catholic worships his guar- 
dian angel, and the Saint whose name he bears. And instead 
of the old local divinities, the Pope furnishes new ones, to pre- 
side over every department of nature's works/ and to protect 
every part of the earth and of its inhabitants, St. Anthony, the 
Abbot, secures from fire ; St. Anthony pf Padua secures from 
water; St. Barbara, from the lightning; St. Bias, defends the 
throat; St. Lucia, the eyes; St. Polonia, the teeth; and, the 
Virgin Mary, they worship above all. 

Her images are the most common. To her the prayer daily 
ascends. As the reader has seen it in this Narrative, so it 
will be found in all Roman countries; the sheet-anchor of a 
Roman's hope is grounded on the favor and protection of the 
Virgin. 

Every day of the year has its Saint, with his image, and al- 
tar ; and the Council of Trent command their images to be had, 
and retained, especially in the churches, and due honor and 
veneration rendered to them. The honor with which they are 
regarded, is referred to the Saints who are represented by them; 
" so that we adore Christ, and venerate the Saints, whose like- 
nesses these images bear when we Jtiss them ; and uncover our 
/i'eads, and prostrate ourselves, before them.'' 1 [Council of 
Trent, Sess. 25.) 

; " What forbids," exclaims the historian of the Roman church, 
" what forbids the conversion of the profane rites to a sacred 
use, now they are sanctified by the word of God 1 Were not 
the holy vessels of the altar, by divine command, cast of Egyp- 
tian gold and silver ? That many Pagan superstitions have 
been properly converted to Christian worship, by the example 
of many, and by the authority of the Fathers, has been demon- 
strated. — Who can justly complain, because the things formerly 
offered to idols, are now offered to the martyrs' (images?) 
What wonder, I say, if the most holy Bishops have converted 
to the worship of the true God, the customs, formed by the Pa- 
gans, from which it seems impossible to separate them, although 
they have become Christians.' 1 Baronius, Vol. 1. p. 599. 

This reasoning shows Romanism in the light of Boodhisra 
in Ceylon; (Seethe Missionary Herald, Sept. 1833;) and the 
historian of Rome^ might truly say : " When Messiah came, no 



292 APPENDIX. 

place would receive him. Potent as his worship became, and 
deeply rooted as his system has grown up, his Roman followers 
found idolatry too strong for them to overcome. They, there- 
fore, craftily intwined it with their own rites, and admitted 
images, angels, and Saints, to a part of the worship due to God 
alone; and, however the Messiah may be the object of venera- 
tion to a numerous and powerful Priesthood, it admits of a 
reasonable doubt, whether the great majority of Romans are 
not still the devoted followers of idolatry, image worship, and 
demonolatryP They have disregarded the command : " Thou 
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or the likeness of 
any thi?ig in heaven, earth, or sea ; thou shall not bow down to 
them, nor worship them ;" but by the example of many, and the 
authority of the Fathers, they have made the command of no 
effect. They have not regarded the fate of idolatrous Samaria ; 
nor have they feared to multiply images, and altars, and Priests, 
at a rate that would have overwhelmed the worshipers of Baal 
with shame ; but firm on the rock Peter, and covered with the 
shield of conceited infallibility, they have fulfilled the Scriptures; 
and have brought the time near, which they have ripened the 
world foivwhen the earth shall be visited with those judgments 
which accompany the coming of the £on of man, in his king- 
dom, to destroy Antichrist, and bring in everlasting righteousness. 
Then will that reign come, for which we pray: M thy king- 
dom come ,«" then will be fulfilled to Peter that word : " I will 
give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven," (Matt. xvi. 
19 ;) then will Paul receive the " crown of righteousness, which 
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; and 
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing," 
(2 Tim. iv. 8 ;) and then shall the twelve Apostles know, and un- 
derstand this word : " Verily, I say unto you, (that ye which 
have followed me in the regeneration,) when the Son of man shall 
sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones^ 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. xix. 28.) 



THE END. 



LR&A P 28 



LIBRARY OF CONUHt^ 



021 219 753 1 






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